Down with the azure shards
by Machinal0me
Summary: What if a little err could bring the team to a threatening alternate Earth, followed by an unknown bloodthirsty creature? note: Clean Cam whumping ahead. Warning: english is not my first language... I do not own Stargate and its caracters and blah...
1. Chapter 1

**author note: clean whumping refer to non-gory violence and a minimum of male dignity ... but it does'nt take the fun away... :)**

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Like diving in Death itself, crashing in the covered mirror of ice that was naturally hold to stop his fall, but that didn't succeed to keep the man from touching the freezing water. The impact has been hard to the base of his ribs, where they attach to the vertebras; his head knocked enough to blind him on the moment and it felt like pain was shot in his body instead of blood. But it was not over; right on the moment, the thin layer of solid water broke and opened the abyss… It was cold, so cold it felt like thousands of needles and knifes and blades were trying to tear him apart, to annihilate what was left of his being, a punch straight to the midsection along with an uppercut under his jaw, a hook to his ears, one to his throat and so long … And then it burned, quickly because of that killing temperature, his lungs were on fire by the inside, tearing, except the flames would never drill trough his chest to let air coming in somehow. The world was twirling, the man was suffocating and paralysed by the so sudden cold, eyes wide opened but burning as well. His mind screamed for air, for heat, for life… he had to fight his way up to the surface before going too far and pitifully drowning in that hella lake. To die so far still so near people he cared about and wanted to save, lost in a mischievous land of snow, trapped in a visceral fear… He managed to get free from his torturers only to keep sapping his own life away as painfully. Panic overtook the man as he tried to swim in vain; one of his muscular arms wouldn't move, like a bird with a broken wing, one of his leg was weakened by his injured knee. He nearly cried out from the pain; trying to move and to fight the water so stabbing, but he was as helpless as a double-jointed doll, muted by this water that threatened to flood his lungs to death. Drowning in pain, fear and cold itself, everything went creepily black… Cameron rolled and closed his azure eyes and locked up the anguish it held…

* * *

_**3 days ago…**_

Daniel's office was lighten up by only a plain desk-lamp, the kind that do not draws the attention, even with the amber color it adds to it surroundings. One could tells it was empty since his owner left to get diner, but something in the feeble light was gesturing near the metal file container, opening it up, digging frenetically into the folders, looking for a very specific item hidden somewhere in that typical Jackson's mess. To him, it would never be a muddle, of course, but it still looked chaotic to Vala, the woman now standing up to glance around once more as she let out an exasperate sigh. She placed her fists on her hips, still holding her flashlight, and muttered to herself, irritated:

"Come on Daniel! Why can't you choose an easier place to hide your booties?"

She noticed a cardboard box, shy and alone under the desk, something she hasn't seen before. Frowning, she pointed her lamp on the mysterious box, talking to herself again, slightly disbelieving:

"Could it be _that_ simple?!"

Vala quickly bended down to reach the cardboard, grabbed it and brought it to her, before getting up with a victorious smile on her face. As quickly, the woman opened up the box, unpacked a few Styrofoam chips to carelessly let them fall beside her and finally found what she was looking for.

"Alright, snap out of this tacky box you precious article, I'm taking you with me…"

She said teasingly to the round stone she was now holding; it was a perfectly round and smooth one, of a blue that looked a lot like a high purity lapis-lazuli, intensely turquoise and shiny, with golden stylised strips. Only to have this mysterious work in her hand, she felt nearly dazzled, a subtle warm and comforting feeling reaching her entire being as she could not take her eyes away from the pebble. However, the heart-warming did not last long: the door suddenly opened up and the ceiling lamp went on, jolting her. Vala quickly turned around with a horrified gaze, now seeing Daniel standing in the doorway, the man blinking with surprise and disbelieve. Threw into a panic, Vala let out unexpectedly a surprised shriek then cried out:

"How ill-mannered!! Can't a woman get a little bit of a private life here?!"

"Oh! …oh I… I'm so sorry Vala… I... I didn't... mean to…"

Mumbled Daniel with confusion, blushing, turning slightly away and raising one hand to cover his eyes. But then the man realize that something was wrong and immediately uncovered his eyes to stare at Vala, shocked but most of all really offended. She was shyly smiling at him, obviously guilty of intruding his office to rummage, certainly going to steal whatever she was looking for.

"What on earth are you doing here, Vala?!" He asked, scandalized.

"Hello Daniel! Err… Well I think I might have lost something and…oh do not worry I was just checking around to see if somebody found it, I wasn't doing anything wrong actually…" She answered with a broad fake smile, clearly making it up.

"Val, I won't be fooled again there! …Wait… Is that my Letelk stone you're holding?!"

"That? This thing has a name…" The woman said, quite unconvinced.

Daniel walked with precipitated strides toward her and tore the blue stone from her hands, inspected it with concern and set it back in its box, still scandalized.

"This thing is a big "No No"; not to touch carelessly, not to play with it as a plain rock, not to even go around it and so on! It may be centuries old and we haven't found out everything it could means! … But first of all: you have no right to sneak in my office to grab whatever you feel like taking… I thought you went trough all this!" Daniel let out, nearly hysterical.

"Kind of awkward now…" She first said out unwillingly loud enough to herself so Daniel could overhear, before trying to get away with it: "Hey… am-I missing the lunch? I _am_ missing the lunch! Damn scatterbrained me; I nearly omitted the wonderful meal they use to serve on Tuesday!"

Hurriedly and nearly running, she passed by Daniel, letting out a single cheery "I gotta go! See you later!" before exiting the office and disappearing in the corridor. First stunned by disbelieving, then exasperated, Jackson dropped his head and sighed; there was nothing he could do with her… After a long silence, Daniel putted back his sight on the box where the Letelk stone was, pondering on the matter: he discovered, in his new book he brought from the latest explored planet system, something about stones made of polished bones from a long gone specie, a kind of creature that was known immortal in legends due to a great regenerative power it use to hold. It has been told that this power came in fact from their bones. Indeed, Daniel Jackson really wanted to study one of those so called magic pebbles but he preferred to make sure no one will suffer in any way from this choice, in this case: what would happen if Mal Doran, the so famous goofball, had her hand on it?... And this thing, even the smallest piece of blue mineral could mean a lot to humanity if the curative effect really existed; they could heal everyone in need, live a longer and better life and much more. He thought about all the member of the SG teams that kept on fighting and getting injured, or even killed… But his attention went on the disheartening mess Vala let in the room and, once more, he let out a long sigh. There was always something tedious to work on in this place.

* * *

Cameron Mitchell was quietly eating his lunch at the base cafeteria, at his usual table, with his usual filled platter. And as usual, Vala came on as hypocrite as she was and sat on the other side of the table, right in front of the colonel, her merry look still on. 

"Hello Mitchell!" She said cheerfully, starring at the bright coloured fruit jelly on the platter between the two SG1 members, craving to steal it for herself.

"Hi Val…" Simply let out the colonel, not so heartily as she was; he wasn't quite feeling like getting annoyed by the woman right now.

"You know what? Daniel just tried to kill me once more, just because I wanted to check on one of his old boxes to take a closer look to the stone he talked about all week long… I sure am fortunate to get away like that this time, but it's clear he'll try to make me pay for that someday… by the way; you won't need this dessert after all, am-I right?" She insinuate in a childlike way without even catching her breath between two sentences.

"… Damn…I knew it was getting to _that_ part! …" Cam sighed before pulling his jelly closer.

"And that means yes?"

"Like Hell…" He mumbled, frowning to himself while chewing on a big piece of meat.

"Please Mitchell! You can have Daniel's pebble!" She begged and offered.

"Daniel's pebble." He repeated, incredulously raising an eyebrow.

"Of course! It's such a wonderful and useful thing!"

"When I first came here few minutes ago, I only had in mind to get a lunch, nothing more… Now _you_ want me to trade for a piece of stone?! Come on! What d'you want me to do with a _rock_?!" He complained, exasperated.

"A nice necklace!" She replied merrily, proud of her answer.

"For God's sake…" Cameron sighed, rolling his eyes.

However, while Mitchell was quite busy being exasperated, Vala jolted up on her feet, nearly splating herself entirely on the table and swiftly reached for the fruity dessert. She waited for that all this conversation long after all… Eyes opened wide in disbelieve, Cameron jumped on his feet and tried to tear his jelly out of her hands. But wouldn't let go that easily! ... So they were both fighting for the plate, Mal Doran stretched and lying on the table, the colonel's platter was now splashing the mess hall floor since the woman pushed it as his chair dropped back in a loud noise. Everybody around -well the canteen was a little bit empty this day but still…- couldn't believe what was happening right on place. What the Hell was that!? They sure thought.

"Don't… touch…this!" Growled Mitchel, his jaw clenched with frustration.

"You don't even want it!" Vala took up arms, still pulling.

Led by desperation, knowing that the man would soon win over her, she clenched her fist and instinctively punched the SG1 leader straight in the face. That wasn't a great blow, but the surprise and where it ended were enough to make sure the man would back off, holding the right side of his face, almost knocked out and losing balance. Astonished, rubbing his punched eyebrow and cheek, staring at Vala that now had her hand on the desired plate and was shocked of it as well. That hurt! He would surely have a big bruise and a black eye. But Mitchell quickly become frustrated and sullen: that wasn't fun anymore and being marked up by a woman, by Vala, was humiliating. He turned his back on her and walked emphatically toward the exit, simply letting out in a slashing tone as he passed by her:

"Fine. You'll tell me when you'll be up to a normal chat… I'm out of here."

"Wait, Mitchell! I'll give you an half!" She cried bleakly, getting off the table. "No; you can have it all if you want!" She kept on with a nervous laughter, more stricken as she saw him disappear out of the mess hall without even looking at her.

Vala knew she went too far on that, standing in the middle of the way, stared by the soldiers and the employees all around her table. Sorry for herself and Cam as well, she dropped to her seat with a long sigh.

"It's not my fault!" She forlornly and timidly tried, but it was kind of too late for now.

* * *

"Mitchell! What happened to you?" Said the surprised voice of Carter, as the team was about to get in the gate room, all weapon readied and dressed up in their green battle uniform. She sure had noticed Cameron's black eye and grumpy look now that he was standing beside her, not talking much for once. 

"Don't wanna talk about this …" The colonel replied with a half smirk he wanted companionable to keep from being pointlessly rude with her, but that still showed how irritated he was.

"You haven't seen it at the briefing, Sam?" Asked Daniel, hard to tell if he was teasing Mitchell or not.

"Well, not really…Oh, now that I think about it, I know why: I was sitting on his left all this time…" Carter guessed.

"It is indeed a good reasoning." Stated Teal'c, standing behind them with a slight amused smile. The Jaffa was sitting right in front of the human in that meeting, so he enjoyed the look of it all this time. 

"One mystery solved, and then we just have to find the cause of that commotion." Added Daniel.

"The general signify he was also wondering." Teal'c said.

"Please, guys; I've already planned to discuss about that with th'people concerned, so can we move on?" Mitchell sighed, giving a subtle but severe glance at Vala.

"All right, we were just trying to help you remembering; that must have been all a blow." Daniel said, still in a dry wit way.

"Thanks a lot, really." Cam let out with sarcasm.

"You do not need to worry, Colonel Mitchell; it's only a bruise, it will disappear soon enough." Teal'c said.

"Unless we should report that to Dr. Lam…" Carter added with a slight smile on her face.

"We better not: think about the mission; she would keep him for a while." Jackson replied.

Cameron didn't answer as they were now walking toward the gate that had just been activated. Mal Doran was there with the rest of the team, but she was, something not often seen, quite quiet and feeling guilty: and what if she just messed up too much this time, after all, that wasn't her first big mistake that week and it was getting worst… Maybe they'll put her aside; they'll stop sending her on mission to not jeopardize it all… That would be logical isn't it? ... For now, she could only follow sheepishly, faking a smile by moments.

They were, once more, going to that bunch of new planet they just discovered, some solar systems they could not remember hearing about before. In fact, Dr. Jackson helped to organise many other exploration out there since he knew it was in that part of the universe that the Letelk stone was found. Again, he had much hope in that piece of blue stone, this bone shard… The planet where they headed was a mildly warm one, nothing special about the atmosphere and the weathers, nothing to complain about; it was a safe trip. The SG1 member were now walking on the metal ramp, and then passing through the gate as they always do, vanishing in that luminous water-like wall. However, only the technicians in the command room could see the petite flutter of that blue light, for less than a second, then it closed like it used to. They could not tell if it was only their imagination, but somehow they felt like something was going wrong, how? Who knows...yet?

_**To be continued!!**_


	2. Chapter 2

He never thought that would be the kind of thing to welcome the team, at least, according to the briefing they had. Cameron was standing the other side of the gate, raising an arm, squinting and turning his face on the side to protect it from the cold wind and the icy and sharp flakes that kept whipping and lashing the exposed skin. Snow… Cam glanced around to see the others reacting about the same, but most of all, all he could see was snow; falling, blinding, covering utterly the landscape. The sky was fading with grey and the view wasn't great at all, way worst than a deeply foggy day in London… Where was the warm pleasant planet?! And the colonel was already shivering from the striking cold, crossing his arms on his chest, shrugging to keep the wind from cooling his neck and chest. Beside him, he heard the rest of the team coming out, as well as a light whir he couldn't identify but that wasn't his priority at the moment.

"What the Hell is that all about?!" Cam tried louder to cover the piercing noise of the snowstorm.

"I don't understand: there must be a mistake!" Let out Carter; she was also trying to hide from the wind in vain, forced to close her eyes to a small tensed line.

"A mistake you say? Kansas just became Alaska on that planet!" Observed a peeved Mitchell.

"Could the seasons change _that_ quickly?!" Daniel asked loud with disbelieve.

"They must have messed up the dialling then, we're on the wrong planet!" Vala tried apprehensively, as shaken by the unforeseen weather as they were all.

"That's impossible, we double-check everything!" Carter rectified.

"So why had we been told it was a warm world we were going to visit?" Asked Daniel with a slight bit of hysteria in his voice.

"All right boys and girls, it's no time to ponder on whatever brought White Christmas on town; we're far from being well equipped for any mission out in that damn flurry! Pull back to the gate and let's get the Hell out of here before freezing up!" Cam decided firmly.

Of course they all agreed and were now facing the gate as Jackson was dialling their possible way back to Cheyenne Mountain, the man's hand trembling and numbed already. Then they stepped back to watch; however, the Stargate only lighted up a few seconds with light blue sparkles with a humming sound, then nothing more. Taken aback, they stared silently for a short time before Daniel tried once more to dial up. But this time the circle didn't even react, just like it has been emptied of all power.

"Damn, that just won't work!" Cursed-he as crossing back his arms, trying to stop shivering.

"Well give it another try! We can't be stuck here forever!" Vala exclaimed in a panic.

"We are more to die as ice cubes pretty soon if we don't get away, Val, trust me on that one." Cameron said ironically, his jaw clenched to hide the chatter of his teeth.

With a line of concern on her face, Samantha moved to the dialler, looking for a way to check out what was malfunctioning, but a thick layer of snow all around it was not helping too much… After a few minutes of attempt to dig with her bare hands, she had to let go. She sighed with frustration; it was way too cold to allow a normal work, she could already feel the painful numbing in her fingers and she stood up while rubbing her hands together.

"I fear that Daniel's right! And I don't think we can wait for the check in; it is a matter of hours…" She said in a worried tone.

"…Which I doubt we have …" Cam added, lost in his thoughts as he really tried to find a way to save them all from that ironical death.

"But you already went in Antarctica; you should all know what to do!" Freaked out Mal Doran, gesturing toward the rest of SG1. She sure forgot how much she wanted to be unnoticed, scared of what could happen very fast to them.

"It's not that easy, Vala" Snapped Jackson.

"Then we have to build a shelter!" She tried frantically.

"Good idea, yet we don't have any material for that… we can still dig into the snow but I fear it won't be enough…" Carter said, coming back beside the others.

"Or we obviously need another gate." Added Jackson.

"…and that is something else I doubt we have…" Commented gloomily Mitchell

There was an uncomfortable silence where they seemed to be all worrying and fighting against that killing cold, thinking of a way out of this situation. Their battle uniform could not keep them warm and protect them from the wind at all, before them an endless white desert stretched and they could not tell if the night was coming with an even lower temperature or not… It was crystal clear that they were doomed. But, the whistle of the wind became once more the sound to fight as Teal'c spoke with determination:

"I will seek for a settlement, or at least for a shelter. We will have more chance if I go unaided."

"Woah no no no no no! Teal'c, we can't just let you alone in the storm, that's suicide!!" Protested Mitchell, shaking his head in disapproval and his hands gesturing the "time out" signal.

"I must, Colonel Mitchell, we do not have more choice." The Jaffa answered with his tone of permanency.

"Not a chance; we'll get through this and we'll get through _together._ There is no way I'm simply letting you go like this!" Cam answered, glancing directly in Teal'c eyes with all the serious he had.

"This is my decision to volunteer to secure us all, Colonel Mitchell, not yours."

"Hey, Big Fella, we need you even more here with us… searching that damn desert is useless." Cam tried, clearly worrying about Teal'c's plan and life.

"I am sorry Colonel Mitchell."

On that last sentence, the tall man turned his back on the others and began walking straight ahead in the snowstorm, ignoring Vala when she cried out his name. Stunned for half a second, glaring at him with wide eyes as the other member of SG1, Cam let out with disbelieves in an undertone:

"He's gone crazy… I can't just stand here and watch!"

Without waiting for an answer from the rest of the team, the colonel rushed toward the other, jogging in the thick snow to catch back on Teal'c, nearly tripping at every step as he had to raise his legs high. But he couldn't help but being slowed down by the ground's white and thick coat. When he finally reached the Jaffa, Mitch came between the other man and the path he choose, turned back to face him and stretched his arms to stop him.

"Listen to me Teal'c… I won't let you go… not alone!" His eyebrows reaching with worries, hoping he would keep his friend from dying all by himself in the snow.

"I will ask you to move aside, Colonel Mitchell…"

"Hell no I won't do so… and you can't frown upon this." Cam interrupted.

The Jaffa tried to brush pass, but the colonel stepped to the side to once more interfere, a cute imploring look on his face; he knew that if the warrior decided to not listen to him and keep going, there would be nothing to do about it. However, in doing so, Cam triggered unwillingly a hidden device made with two distanced detectors not even sticking out, well dissimulate in the bunch of snow and still very sensitive. Some mechanical compounds and gears settle under the floor they couldn't see slowly broke free from the thin layer of ice that garnished it, rolling silently to ready a complicated mechanism.

"Hey, come on… we need at least to decide first which option's the better one…" The human added with a pacifying tone and a slight apologetic smile.

"Once again I am sorry."

Teal'c simply replied, before trying to bypass once again the colonel. And again, Cameron stepped to the side to get in the Jaffa's way, except something different happened…In fact, the ground collapsed under the yet not that heavy weight of the colonel, so fast he didn't even let out a scream; he thought his heart was going to explode from that shock as the snowy ground begin to get lose and as he quickly disappear below the level of the floor. So many things happened at the same time: Teal'c cried out Mitchell's name, Cameron realized he felt in some hole and he landed on the bottom of a 4 meters (13, 12 feet) deep pit, his left leg taking much of the impact because of the irregular ground and a signal of pain went to his brain so fast and so overwhelming he didn't know where he was actually injured. In addition, a mass of snow felt as well and he received a part of it like somebody could receive 20 pounds on his head…

* * *

When he opened his eyes, his mind was puzzled between such feelings: the cold was alarmingly numbing him and the snow on and under him made the exposed skin sting however. He blinked and squinted because of the flakes that kept falling in his eyes, but also because of that soaring pain in his left leg, giving to him the feeling that his calf and his thigh muscles, even those in his foot, were painfully contracting as something pulled on it. He clenched his jaw to hold a groan and slowly moved his head half sunk in the snow to try to drive away the fog and the black dots that were troubling his sightedness; Cam was still groggy and disoriented from the crash and the natural drop of blood pressure when the body is injured. Over him, the colonel could faintly see some shadows moving and bended over the edge of the hole, quite moved by something he couldn't understand despite that some muffled sputters began to catch his attention. He shivered and that made him inadvertently move his leg; the pain got shot from his left knee –the thought it was a bad sprain came to his mind, then he hesitated to call it he pulled a ligament- and that was enough to wake him up from this semi-conscientiousness. Cameron tried to sit up, but it was a little bit too fast; he awakened once more the pain in his leg as well with some part of his muscular being that bruised up in that fall, tearing a suffering growl out of him.

"He's waking up!" A voice said, probably coming from Jackson.

"Colonel Mitchell, we are coming for you… are you well?" Teal'c's voice asked.

"Guys? ..." Cam asked, blinking in order to clear up his sight

Still puzzled up, he had to shake his head and blink a few more time before he could think normally. The other members of SG1 looked quite worried and seemed to be trying to find a way to get Mitchell out of the pit; but that was logical coming from them.

"Cam, are you all right?" Carter asked with worries.

"I… I think so…" He managed to answer, frowning to himself as he wondered himself and shivering; syncopes in fact are related to a lesser blood irrigation as well as difficulties to keep normal body warmth. Not to mention the cold, once more…

"Ok well…uh… you can move?" Daniel tried with apprehension.

"I think so…"

On his last words, Cameron tried to roll to his feet, but when he putted a little pressure on his left leg, he stumbled to his side and cried out; unable to support his weight on his knee. Panting and wincing, the man would not abandon after only one shot and tried once more to get up in vain and as painfully. It was like thorns were settled between the two sections of his leg, tearing the inside when he tried to push or even more it… and the worst was the frustration that such an inability brings; being held down, trapped in his own now malfunctioning body. As he was working on getting up once more, Daniel sighed with annoyance in front of Cameron's denial of his own injury.

"And _I_ don't think so… ok, try to not move then, we'll find a way out of this situation; we always do."

"I'm sure th'pain will get away soon…" Let out Cam, jaw clenched because of the frustration and the aching.

"No matter how much pain you can handle, if the ligaments, the tendons, the muscles or even the bones -depending on what is your injury- cannot work well, force them would be useless and could make it worst…" Carter began to explain, but when she saw that the colonel wasn't listening and kept on trying once again, she let out with a more upset tone: "Mitchell, would you stop now?! There is no point for hurting yourself that much when there is nothing you can do! You are only wasting your strength left..."

"Damn it! …" He sighed, rolling back on his backside, arms stretched on each side in the snow, a droplet of sweat or two forming on his forehead; those exercises actually drained all of his strengths he thought.

The freezing cold was also numbing his mind; Mitchell nearly didn't panic that much when he realized he could not feel the tip of his fingers and that he had stopped shivering… That wasn't good signs at all, but the worst was that he knew he was at least shielded from the cruel wind, but not the other standing upon the trap in the ground…. He could not just lie on the irregular floor while his friends were slowly freezing, yet at the same time, drowsiness was threatening to take over him and to drag him to a certain death. Cam reached dumbly for his gun he dropped in his fall, his heavy breathing calming down slowly. The others were once again thinking and discussing about a plan to save the complete team, although the injured man could not overhear. However, something grabbed his attention finally; on the dug frozen soil wall, there was a small piece of metal that had lighted up shyly. The SG1 colonel frowned to try to guess and understand what the thing was, not suspecting that it could be something even more dangerous or whatever a common sensed person would be afraid of. He hardly raised his head to get a better point of view, but the thing wasn't making any sense!

"There's that li'll light up there…" Noticed the now back to dizziness Mitch.

The team must have heard him well; they all silenced up for a second, exchanging worried glances. Vala was the first to bend over the pit this time:

"I've seen this in many movies; he's seeing the light at the end of a tunnel, he's gonna die! We cannot let him go to that light or else it will be over!" Panicked her, talking way too quickly to the others to follow. She was also deeply quivering as well from the lashing of the hard winter wind.

"Mitchell, what are you… talking about?" Asked Daniel with a doubtful tone, ignoring what Vala was telling them; the injured man was maybe hallucinating since there were also chances he knocked his skull on something in his fall.

Nevertheless, as the man down in the pit was going to answer, they could all hear an increasing and bass humming sound, echoing even under the stormy sky. Startled, Daniel, Vala, Carter and Teal'c turned around to look for the source of that strange noise, seriously hoping it was not a new bunch of trouble coming their way. Cam could only stay half sat up, glancing around and upset as well even more now that the sound looked like many threatening roaring thingies.

"What's up out there?" Asked out loud Cam with a concerned tone.

None answered, shocked by the many dark and noisy silhouettes that were coming their way through the storm, so fast it let behind a track of flying snow as they zigzag between the bumps of the landscape. They were all stunned, fascinated by what could be their last chance or their certain death at the same time…

**to be continued!**


	3. Chapter 3

There was about twelve of them, dressed mostly in black; black cargo pants, black leathery winter coat with black fur-like material on the collar, black gloves, high black boots, a kind of black scarf covering the nose and the mouth and a black hood… Still, since they were wearing many chains and studded belts as long with many other accessories, it was not a uniform but only similar sartorial tastes and ways to fight the cold temperature. They were standing beside their vehicles, some kind of boosted up and impressive, but unsuited snow-bikes, an alien rifle-style gun to each of those 12 persons. One of them seemed to be standing a little bit before the other as another black dressed man looked a little bit groggy and unsteady. The SG1 team was silent; every time they tried to speak to the indigenous ones, they never get answers but only some hateful and disdainful glares. They ended up by staying quiet, crossing their arms on their chest to try to keep their heat as their strange rescuers were silently working. Two of them were setting up a way to get the injured man out of the pit, attaching a solid rope to one of their snow-bike and using the other end to send one of them slowly down the trap.

Cameron tried to stand up once more as the stranger was softly landing, but pain burned his left leg once again, forcing him to stand there, half-sat on the cold ground and leaning on his elbows, frustrated to be that helpless.

"Ow… Thanks guys for coming that… _quickly_… though I'm not sure you're the kind to play the lifeguards…" Cam began with his half-serious tone. "I wonder; y'speak English or something? Or else we will have to rely on Daniel once more..." He asked then.

The stranger in black stared at him, but didn't answer; he only untied himself and walked toward the colonel with the rope. As he was going to tie up the injured man's belt to use it as a body harness, the American raised a hand to stop him, saying:

"It's ok; I'm a big boy, 'can do it by myself by now…"

The stranger stood still, probably surprised but Cam could not tell since the only thing he could see of the face of the stranger was his eyes, and then he offered innocently the rope to the colonel. When Cameron reached out for it, the stranger swiftly grabbed the SG1 leader's arm with his free hand and pulled strongly on it. Utterly surprised, Mitchell left unwillingly his position on the ground since he couldn't steady himself with his legs, to land flat on his stomach with a huff, still dragged by the other man. His reflexes kicked in and he threw his other hand on those that was holding him, fighting to get free. However, before he could really use his still significant strength to break free, the stranger quickly tied up one, then the other Mitchell's wrists.

"Son of a…" Cried out Cam as he was still fighting in vain, unable to do much lying like a tied up rodeo calf with a weak and painful knee. "What the hell d'you think you're doing?! Get that shit off me; 'm sure there's another way up!" He kept on, outraged.

The stranger chuckled softly, ignoring Cam's complains, and moved to the side of the human to suddenly kick the man down in the ribs. Mitchell let out a pain grunt and rolled on his side to lie on his back, twisting himself in pulling on the rope and coughing as he felt the air getting out of his lungs. He fought once more, wincing and swearing before staring angrily at the stranger dressed in black. They could hear Teal'c crying out his name, but Mitchell had the jaw clenched too tightly with resentment to answer back. The stranger crossed his arms, not even reacting to the distress of the colonel, while stepping back and glaring at the man on the ground. Then the other man out the pit must have activated the hoist on his snow-bike; the rope that tied Cam's wrists began to tense and pulled quickly on the man's arms. He tried to fight again, but his back rose from his lying position, stretching him as his hips would soon be lifted as well. That tore a paint grunt out of his chest now that the rope cruelly bruised his wrists but mostly because a part of his weight was once more on his injured knee. Cam fought once more when his feet left the ground, but that only made thing worst; the knot in the rope grew tighter and bruised even more his skin and every time he moved, he swung at the end of the cord and crashed painfully in the wall of the pit. What a silly way to get beaten up; doing so by himself… that sure calmed him down a little bit. He finally reached the top as he began to feel like his arms were going to pop out of their socket, growling with anger as the other stranger helped him and shovelled him carelessly on the snowy ground. In addition, he could now feel again the lashing cold wind filled with sharp ice flakes. Cam squinted and began to sit up slowly when he abruptly felt someone pulling on the damn rope once more, pushing him aback in the cold snow and dragged him before he could do anything.

"Arrg… Come on! We're… only explorers… _lost_ explorers! There's no mean for all this!" Growled Mitchell, trying to reason up the odd strangers.

He still was brought to the rest of the team and, about 2 meters (6,5 feet) before them, the one that pulled Cam simply hold out the end of it and tossed it in the snow before getting back to the other strangers. Teal'c, Vala, Carter and Daniel immediately rushed to their leader, every of them having their own outraged words about how bad he had been treated, quickly untying Mitchell up. He rubbed his bruised wrists, and then tried to stand up on only one leg as Teal'c helped him, leaning unsteadily on him, wincing again at the pain that tore his injured limb and stared angrily at the 12 newcomers. The one standing in the front middle of the group dressed in black, the one that looked to be their leader because it was the only one that had a kind of bright red belt slung over the shoulder, turned toward one at his left and exchanged a few words. From the corner of his eyes, Mitchell saw the surprised look on the squatted Jackson's face and faced him with a wondering look.

"It sounded like a Latin language; I'd even say some kind of… French…" Explained Daniel, still taken aback; they all thought they were on an extraterrestrial planet, but what alien speaks French anyway?!

"French." Repeated Carter on a disbelieving tone.

However, before they had time to ponder on it even more, a woman voice called out from the group of strangers with an authoritarian and cold tone, surprisingly in a clear English with only a slight accent when she came to speak the "r": it was the one with the red belt that looked more like a man with this thick coat:

"Shut it up! And _who_ is your leader _here_?"

"Uh… I am, _lady_…. Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell… May-I ask you why…" Began the man, first a little bit stunned by the revelation.

"Fine! And I'm the captain Mayka Royer" The woman interrupted with a bored but still firm voice.

On this, without waiting any seconds, she draws out a gun-like object and simply shot directly at Cameron's chest. Every member of SG1 glanced with wide eyes at the dart sticking a little bit out of Mitchell vest, stunned. Less than 2 seconds after the painful shot, Cam felt awfully drowsy and groggy, rolled his blue eyes and collapsed as everything went black around him. The Jaffa was so surprised as well as the others that he nearly dropped the sluggish colonel, catching him back at the last seconds. None of them had the reflex to aim their guns at the strangers, yet they knew they were outnumbered… Daniel as worried gave a hand to try to lift Cam, while Carter exclaimed with astonishment and indignation once she took the unconscious man's pulse:

"Why did you…"

"The guy will be asleep for a little then quite dizzy… nothing more." Interrupt abruptly the self claimed captain, before adding: "And I should keep on; now the fighter one…"

On these words, she pointed out once more her dart-gun and immediately shot on the Jaffa, touching him straight in the pectoral muscle. The tall man slapped a hand on his picked muscle, but he didn't stand still steadily for too long, dropped Mitchell so Jackson nearly stumbled at the sudden heavier weight he was lifting, lurched and felt soundly in the snow. Jackson had to let go too and help him slide to the ground, unable to keep Cam up alone, as the women behind him rushed to their two anaesthetised men, calling their names.

"Ok, shiver down now; is there any other _strong_ or _bright_ people in your group now? Just to know before we go…" Kept on Royer, staring at the three remaining ones.

"Oh no no no, we're nothing like that… not at all; I am myself stupid enough to be unable to try anything! And when I say so, I mean it!" Replied quickly Vala, a broad nervous smile on her face.

"Vala, _what are you doing_? Don't say anything you'll ruin it all!" Daniel muttered to her with a quite reproachful look.

"Here we go with a sneaky one and a smart one… Sting them down." The captain Mayka Royer snapped to the other standing at her left as she was reloading her pistol.

"Wait what do you want with us? We did no harm!" Let out Carter as she raised alarmed but pacifying hand toward the strangers, seeing the one at the captain's left aiming a gun at the SG1 members.

"Well of course we are doing our job!" Answered Royer with a harsh yet amused tone. "Take this one down as well; it seems like they are all dangerous…" She told the one aiming them.

In three seconds, three darts were shot and two women and a man went to the chilly ground.

"Just in time… now take them back to the snow-bikes; we're moving" Mayka said. "And I don't give a shit that I still give you orders in English, deal with it and you'll learn it as well!" She added as she saw the grumpy look on the face of her team.

* * *

The wind and the cold seemed even worst when Mitchell came back slowly to consciousness, biting his skin glaringly. He moved a little bit on the uncomfortable bed he had under his back, groaning as he awaked as well the pain in his knee that kept him from being able to stand and react, that maybe led the entire team to even more troubles. His eyes shot open when he realized that the loud humming he could hear was the sound of an engine and that the whistling noise was the wind they were breaking really quickly. He tried to sat up when he discovered with shock that he was precariously lying on a snow-bike seat, tied up tightly on it by at least three ropes running across his torso - even painfully too skin-tight – and going at a frightening speed in the wild snow. In addition, the driver wasn't going in a straight line at all; he kept on zigzagging with no visible pattern, shaking his passenger in a threatening way.

"God!" Let out the hoarsely voice of the colonel as his skull smacked against the plastic part of the seat just under his head; the vehicle had taken a bump. His mouth was desert dry, his ears were hurting because of the wind that kept getting in and he had that cruel headache that wouldn't just go. In addition, he could only breath shallowly because of what was holding him too thigh and every shakes of the snow-bike caused suffering out of his injured knee. Maybe he had his arms free, but he couldn't do anything as long as he wasn't able to get rid of the ties. Clenching his jaw, he lifted his head to look at the bad driver, snapping to him:

"Hey! … Easy, boy! Easy! You'll kill us both… and I in first!"

"G…get lost you… you Army-man of… shit! I'm not… listening to you, not at all!" Mumbled the captor without looking back, with a clearly not sober voice and a slight accent.

"Whoa wait! You've been drinkin' ?! No, 'Can't believe that!... It's just too… Who's the hella madman that let you drive drunk that shit ?!" Freaked out the outraged colonel, knowing his life now in the hands of a drunken French kidnapper.

"Drink that, m…moron!" The other answered, tossing an empty beer bottle behind him, on Cam.

His reflexes pulled in and Mitchell raised his arms to shield himself, the bottle ending up in one of the two containers at each side of the snow-bike, breaking as it reached the bottom. A piece of glass nearly touched one of his eyes, letting a long but shallow slash across his cheek. He swore quite a lot, wincing as well, but suddenly stopped when a thought reached his mind: the pieces of glass… they were sharp enough to cut through the damn ropes that held him! Knowing the captor wouldn't notice, he stretched his arm to more he could, painfully because of his links, and then finally reached the remains of the beer bottle with the tip of his fingers. Mitchell pulled it to him and immediately began to slice the best he could the ropes. With numb fingers and sharp edges, he got cuts on it as well, but he knew he would never complain about this; he was strong, he did not want to be helpless… While doing so, his clever mind decided he had to learn to more he could before taking control of the snow-bike and knocking off the drunken guy.

"By the way, where are we?" He asked innocently, knowing the other had not all his mind.

"Fucking Canada…and North of it! …Now you… you just shut up or I'll send you… uh… in Hell!" The other replied with a nearly threatening tone.

"Rodney McKay's _land _you say?! … How so? …" Mitchell asked himself in a half-tone, disbelieving. "Though we were off-world; that doesn't make any sense now!"

While achieving his untying up job, Cam thought more about what he came to see of those so-called French speaking Canadians: whatever this drunken man claimed, they still own some strange technologies and didn't seemed impressed by traveler that came by a Stargate… It wasn't Earth, not the one Mitchell use to know… it was another alternative planet. But the problem was still: how did they come on a parallel Earth by using the gate that worked most of the time and surely not this way? Carter could find an answer to this; one more reason to break free as quick as he could and help his friends.

That is when he finally got rid of the last link, hastily sat up and immediately attacked the driver while being careful to not do anything that would make the vehicle loose track and crash. The stranger let out a surprised swearing Mitchell didn't understand as the colonel was chocking him be behind, an arm thigh around his neck and the other reaching for the driver's hands to hold them. The drunken fought and tried to elbow Cam in the guts, but the SG1 leader wasn't at his first fight: he dodged it and put even more strength to try locking the other man's arms. Led by desperation, the French man pushed himself backward, trying to catch the colonel by surprise and to hit him in the face with his own head. Cam managed to dodge the vicious knock by tilting his own head on the side, but this sudden shove made him shift his weight in order to stay well sat on the motorcycle-like seat. However, by doing so, he badly hurt his injured knee that couldn't stand any stress, crying out and getting immediately giddy because of the tremendous pain signal burning his nerves all the way to his brain, puzzling all other signals that could get there, all along with the lowering of blood pressure. Blinking to fight against the darkness that were surrounding him, grabbing his left lap to stop the weak suffering spasm that went through his limb to the bone, he unwillingly loosed his grip on the neck of the drunken; the stranger elbowed him once more, hit straight in the colonel's face. Cameron immediately lost balance and another bump that the huge snow-bike took sent Mitchell off the vehicle, loosing immediately conscience as he touched the ground at this deadly speed and rolled many time in the frosty snow. The snowstorm went all black as ink…

**To be continued!!!**


	4. Chapter 4

He was choking on a warm and viscous liquid flooding down his throat. However, he wasn't even able to breathe out hard enough to stop that torturous tearing blood. The reason was that the only thing he could feel now was suffering. Like thousands of knifes piercing his skin, getting in and out over and over, like a sledgehammer striking again and again his poor body: he barely could thing of something else than this herd of pain signals that burned and overwhelmed every nerve and muscle on their way to the brain. His raspy and weak wheezing was grating every inch of his throat, the cold air aggravating it. What did he do to deserve that, slowly dying in the snow and paralysed under the weight of his crushed being? He remembered only one thing; he fell out of that furiously quick vehicle, he hit the ground at a tremendous speed, he was not able to tell where the sky on the floor was as he was trapped in a nauseous and fatal rolling.

He scarcely felt something touching his side, an unsure feeling between two gruelling shot of pain that sure told him most of his bones were broken; it was sliding under his vest and slowly patting his torso. Cam broke into one or two weak coughs as spasms shot through his shattered chest, bringing up to his mouth the metallic taste of his own blood, faintly clenching his fists without moving his arms as a pitiful attempt to fight the touch.

Cameron remotely heard an odd hissing that seemed to be coming from miles away in a thick fog and fought to open his so heavy eyelids; a visceral reflex to try to discover what could be the last thing he would see of this reality. His head was turned to his side, the only thing he could see was the dully white snow, the storm and, far away, a dark and faint shadow floating above the ground, a ship or something, it didn't matter. Cam slowly turned his sight away as he heard once more the threatening hissing. There was an obscured blue-ish hominoid shape bent over him, behind the layer of haze his dying brain could not remove. The thing seemed to stretch an oddly shaped and articulated arm in his direction, but the colonel couldn't understand what was going on anymore; he was simply watching without any concern or fear like a dumb animal would watch the butcher approaching with his blade. It was simple: his brain was now only a mass of anguish… Something, a soft golden light coming from a round object the thing was holding in its "hand", began to glow, hurting and blinding the colonel's glassy eyes. He managed to wince, losing sight of the other being, but he couldn't care less now. He nearly felt something round and polished being place on his sternum. Yet, Mitchell suddenly felt a wave of warmth irradiating his chest as if a boiling liquid had been poured in his rib cage, burning his already terminated guts. He convulsed faintly as this fire was spreading in his arteries, set ablaze by this new and even worst pain that quickened his fall in Hell. One more, everything went dark as Death itself.

* * *

"Hey, I think he is coming back…" A barely audible feminine voice called out near him.

"Already?!" Asked with surprise a man voice a little bit farther.

"Well I have seen some eyelids fluttering here…" Said the woman as Cameron felt a soft hand on his cheek.

"He fell from a half-alien snow-bike going at 105 miles per hour! (168km/h) How can-he get away with no injury at all not even some slight bruises?!" The other voice said, approaching with a metallic rustle.

"Don't ask me; I was still sleeping when they dragged him in, remember?" The woman snapped.

"V…Vala? …" Moaned hoarsely Cameron, his throat still burning and his entire body stiffened and sore as he could feel a drum beating in his skull. He managed to open his sleepy eyes, squinting at the cold bright light and blinking to get rid of the black dots that were puzzling his sight and addling his mind.

"He named me first… see; he likes me better…" Mal Doran teased Jackson that was now standing beside her.

"Cam, how do you feel?" Asked Daniel with concern at the man lying on a cheap hospital bed with his battle uniform still on and not even medical equipment linked to him, ignoring Vala's comment.

They were in a dull grey room with walls that looked like stronghold ones; of thick metal with no decoration of any kind. In a corner, there was a kind of little closet-sized room; a uncomfortable personal bathroom. It was a kind of cell in the giant floating station, a flying half-alien as well vehicle that stood above the snowy field in the Great White North, a perfect station to hide and wait for some explorers coming out of the gate and falling into their traps. Then the team owning this ship continually in the air could get down, take their snow-bike and gather the off-worlder in order to use them as merchandise later. It was how it worked and how they managed to get money to survive…

"S… sick I … guess…" Answered Cameron in a raucous whisper, his back lying flat on the mattress like he was himself numb, weighting 2 tons and couldn't lift himself to sit up.

"They without doubt done something to him, I mean; if the alcoholic man was right, Mitchell would have at least broken bones or anything else… but not just nausea…" Daniel said, clearly into something mysterious.

"You should be happy he is well then…" Commented Vala, still at Mitchell's bed but now playfully poking at his chest, trying to cause any other reaction than the faint irritated growl the colonel let out. He was still dizzy, he had a hell of a headache and something in his throat was disturbing his breathing and swallowing. The SG1 leader suddenly caught a sigh of some metallic chains hanging from her arm, before realizing that Vala was wearing handcuffs as well as Daniel; they were prisoners.

"It has nothing to do about that, I only fear that whatever they gave to him could be noxious in the long run… The supposedly captain of the station swore he was like that when they found him, but actually I don't trust them at all. It's a bunch of… anarchist 30 years old punk thieves!" Daniel exclaimed with a little bit of anger.

"They called themselves _pirates_ and _kidnappers-for-money-only_…" Added Vala.

Listening to their conversation but understanding it with a little delay, Cameron tried to recall what exactly happened to him and why does the pain so horrible he felt back in the snow suddenly disappeared. Then he remembered the strange blue shape and the motion toward his chest. In a panic, he quickly sat up, opened his vest and lifted his t-shirt to check out whatever the thing had done to him, under the surprised look of Daniel and the Vala's pleased one. Yet, there was no new scar or bruise or marks, but he didn't have time enough to ponder on that: the old injury in his knee awoke cruelly and something went up in his throat. Throttling on something viscous, he let go his lifted clothes and snap his hands at his chest and neck, coughing as hell before turning to the side of the bed and painfully spitting out a crimson liquid. It was blood. He has been healed but the amount of blood he lost before that was still left loose in his body. But the thing that held the creature must have work only on his abdomen and torso, but, unfortunately for the colonel, not on his limbs and in this case on his injured knee.

"Oh God, Mitchell! Stay still we'll try to get you some help!" Daniel told him, quite worried by the blood that dripped from Cam's mouth as Vala stepped back with astonishment.

Cameron wiped it off the corner of his lips, fought another coughing and tried to switch his legs to the side of his bed in order to step off it, too nauseous and dizzy to listen to Jackson's words. He slide off the hospital bed, but kept leaning on it as he set his weight on only one shaky leg, feeling the pressure of the blood on his lungs and his stomach. Maybe Cam stood too quickly, but he still stopped with one gesture Daniel that was rushing to him certainly to set him back in his bed.

"Don't… I…I'm alright it's just…" Cameron mumbled huskily, holding a cough and wiping another droplet of blood, not looking in the eyes of his friends. He even tried to smile to prove it, but that wasn't too convincing. "Someone or something… _did_ heal me somehow… but it wasn't even human…" He then added with a voice he wanted firmer, waiting for the room to start twirling.

"Something? What it looked like?" Daniel asked, frowning and wondering.

"I don't know; 't was… _blue_ and it's the only thing I can recall right now…" The touchy Cam answered, shaking his head and then wincing; he has been able to set his left leg on the ground without collapsing, but it still was quite painful… and shameful to not be able to walk for now. "Where's the rest of the team, Teal'c and Sam?" He asked then.

"Oh, yes, uh… we've been separated; that _captain_ Royer assumed and told us it would be harder for us to escape if we are not able to communicate." Jackson answered, a little annoyed by their captors.

"And they took away the coms and guns…" Ventured Mitchell.

"Exactly." Jackson simply said.

Before they could say or do anything more, the heavy door slapped open to let in a nice looking but punky dressed woman with the red belt along with two guards. Once more, they were nearly all dressed in black even without their winter coat, looking like feisty but a little bit chaotic rebels fighters and holding some unknown huge alien rifles. The lady could have been really attracting to the SG1 males if it wasn't of her too short hair, her heavy black eyeshadow and the cold look on her face. A smile went across her smooth face when she saw the colonel staring angrily at her and trying to stand up.

"Well, seems like everyone's awake now…" She started with an amused yet mischievous tone. "I'll go straight to the point: your uniform… your all from a division of the USA's armies. Though I never heard about before, I'm sure they'll pay a good price to get you back or at least to get their hand on all of you…"

Seeing the wondering look on the face of the three prisoners when they heard her last sentence, she added:

"I spoke with Blondie… that _Carter_ woman. She told us about the fact you are not from this Earth, that your's not working as our… I came to think that the US Government would be quite interested in learning about all the worlds you've visited: they're currently in an open war and I am sure they won't mind… treating you _a little_ badly to learn about new weapons, ships and even more…"

There was a short silence where the SG1 members in the room exchanged a glare, concerned about what they just have been told. The captor's leader proudly looked at their troubled faces, satisfied of the domination she had on them.

"So you never heard of the Cadelans?" Royer asked, conscientiously changing the subject

"The Cadelans?" Daniel asked, wondering.

"The beings that brought us those technologies of course! They came from that gate in Egypt… But if Mister Glasses can't recall, 't means you never meet them…"

"Mister Glasses?..." Cameron asked in a half-tone to Jackson, blinking with disbelieve.

"Carter's _Blondie_, Teal'c's _The Tackler_, Vala's _Gabby_ and you're _Army-Boy_…" Jackson explained dully.

"That's ridiculous!" Stated Cam, still surprised by the childish manners of their captors.

"It is what I keep telling them!" Complained Vala.

"Shut it up!" Roared Mayka. "I still have my dart-gun and I won't mind using it for fun if you keep on this way!" Then she turned toward one of the guards and ordained: "Get some nice handcuff for our risen from the dead friend; I wouldn't want him to help the other getting rid of theirs… And take the two to another cell; I want duets, no triplets it is too hazardous."

Clenching his teeth with frustration, Cameron stared furiously at the woman smiling victoriously to him: she guessed his next plan before he even told his friends! Two other guards that were waiting outside came in and dragged Vala and Daniel away, the SG1 members knowing they couldn't fight, not now, not against all of those guards at the time. Just as the two were led outside, one of the other guards took out some handcuffs; they putted their guns in their sheaths and walked cautiously toward the remaining colonel. The man was ready to fight them, even if he knew it was useless against two men and a lady ready to shoot him, that he couldn't stand a chance with only one working leg and that they still kept prisoner somewhere the beloved SG1 team. But he had to show he wasn't impressed at all, that he was the most stubborn in this ship.

"Take it easy, Army-Boy, you still can get away with only some bruises …" Hissed cruelly one of the punky guards, the one that was wearing many colourful piercings and tattoos, prepared to grab Mitchell's arms.

"That's what you'd like uh, _Christmas tree-man_?" Provoked Cam.

He grinned when he saw the outraged look on the face of this guard, grabbed the thin metal headboard of the bed and threw it into that guard and made him fall sound on the floor, still pushing and holding on it to spare his injured leg. But as he was making his way with the rolling bed toward the captain to crash into her before she could shoot at him, the other guard rushed to him. Using the hilt of his rifle as the axe of a lumberjack, he slashed it with all his strength into Cameron's stomach. Mitchell immediately crumbled to the floor, unable to stay on his knees and to catch his breath back, paralysed by the pain as well. Once more he felt the stomach churning sensation and the viscous liquid blocking his throat and then spitted some more free blood. This seemed to horrify both guards and they would have stay stunned for a while if Mayka didn't reacted, losing her amused smile when she saw the red liquid on the metal floor:

"Cuff him up and set him on the bed, we'll take him to the infirmary! And shut your fucking gaping mouths, you're not helping right now!" She ordained roughly and loud.

When Cam finally gasped for air and groaned, his lungs burning and his abdomen hurting as hell, he was already cuffed up and lifted by the guards to the hospital bed. They slapped him unknowingly a bit brutally on it, tearing another choked-off groan from him, and then attached him to the bars of the couch, still rolling the bed out of the room. Cameron tried to fight, but the links were quite resistant and the self-claimed captain wouldn't stop holding him down on the mattress. They crossed some corridor then entered a vast room painted in white.

"Let him here and get the… the _doctor_, I'll try to find some equipments. Go!" The woman shouted to the men and shoved brutally them; before leaving the room just behind both of them.

Mitchell has been left alone in the room, blinking at the too bright light. At least he still had a chance to escape; they were gone, they thought he was weaker than he really was and they even let the door open... However, as he was struggling to get rid of the links, he heard the floor squeaking in the cold silence, just at the entrance. The colonel turned a worried look toward the doorway, hoping that it was not the so called doctor that was coming. Yet, there was no one. Frowning, the man glanced around, still suspicious. Suddenly, he heard a soft thump quite closer. Alarmed, he examined the floor and the room once more, but he was still alone.

"Hello?..." He said with an uncertain tone, concerned about this invisible presence.

Then he saw it: a part on the air right before him seemed to bubble up to take a vaguely human shape, taking a slight blue color. There was a _familiar something_ appearing just before his wide opened eyes and it didn't sound good at all!

**To be continued!**


	5. Chapter 5

**author note: I was planning to post that tomorow since I try to write a chapter every two days, but I couldn't wait for the sequel myself :P ... yet the best H/C is still to come...**

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The thing was made of billions of little spherical particles of every size, all of a pure turquoise blue with slight golden striations. Those hard little spheres were held together by a self produced electromagnetic and aliened field; allowing as well the pieces of its body to roll on each other and build up whatever shape it "had in mind". It looked to be made of stone, but it was only hard cells clung together and able to resist to extreme conditions; from major heat to killing cold, even a trip to open space without any air to breath. And only by changing its surface, helped by the tiniest pieces of stone that formed the creature, it could modify the way the surrounding light reflected. That meant this alien being could switch color so well that it could conceal itself as if it was invisible… The thing, the Letelk creature, was however not as intelligent as a human, only led by its need of blood plasma to literally stay in shape and support its energy field. This field had a boosting effect for the other living creature cells, causing that healing power. It was quite useful for the thing since it needed a living prey to drink out pint by pint the liquid part of the blood…

So the creature was now reorganizing its pieces; losing its camouflage cloak and taking a vaguely human form in order to look like the man leaning on the hospital bed just in front of it. It kept on walking with this peculiar gait, remembering the creepiest zombie Cam had seen in horror movie; the brainless monster attracted by any living creature… in this case, he was the prey!

"What the hell?!" Let out Mitchell, fighting even harder to get rid of his restraints, but in vain.

It was the same horrible thing that unexpectedly healed him after his surely deadly fall, but why? Why such a monster would keep him alive and would follow him everywhere, that wasn't making any sense! And it was getting closer; its strange faceless head just over Cameron…

"Stop me if I'm mistakin', but you're not around to help me escapin' uh?" Tried Cam with a short nervous chuckle, still fighting his cuffs and links. To see some blue piece of he-couldn't-tell-what moving as if it was alive like that, that was definitively disturbing.

The thing stretched truly slowly one of its "arms" toward the colonel, aiming clearly his throat. The man tried to back off in the mattress, bending his head and clenching his teeth so his chin would relatively protect his neck from the hand of the creature. But the blue thing simply changed the shape of its pebble limb and swiftly grabbed the man's trachea, pressing on it and released some of its micro spheres… Surprised, wide eying the thing, Cameron didn't even have time to cry out; he was now choking and fighting to break free, a cruel burning sensation on his neck skin. It seemed like the thing was pressing even more and that some shards were entering his flesh and his throat, as his lungs were beginning to starve for oxygen. Then the fire settled somewhere in his larynx, he opened his mouth to cry out of pain, but no sound would come out at all. He could only try to twist and fight his links and to try to move his head, anything to let in his aching lungs the slightest air gust, but that was once more hopeless. After the few seconds that seemed to by an eternity, as the man thought he would die of a painful suffocation, the creature let go and stood up beside him, finally releasing the colonel. He immediately exposed his hurting throat and cough as he was still choking with something, blinking and trying to focus on anything to not fall into unconsciousness.

Cameron's upper body muscles were shivering uncontrollably as long as he kept coughing; there was something grating inside his throat… When it finally calmed down, he tried to wryly snap out some words, but nothing seemed to be coming out of his mouth, no sound at all; so that was the burning sensation he had this time: the Letelk creature let some of its microscopic particles on his vocal cords to mute him! Freaked out, Mitchell tried to scream for the guards, but it only made the burning sensation worst and the silence creepier. Seeing the blue brainless creature bending slightly over him one more, the SG1 leader knew it wasn't over and that the thing was silencing him for a certainly good reason. The tortured male quickly glanced around, looking for a way to help him escaping, anything, and his eyes stopped on a medical tray near the bed. On it, there was a sharp but old looking scalpel, like the remains of a time where the ship was owned by a true and professional crew, not some stupid French Canadian rebel kidnappers. If he could put his hands on it, he would be able to cut off the restraint that held him on the bed then make his way out of there, whatever if it would be with his handcuffs still on.

However, the thing "saw" the concerned look on the man's face and slowly turned itself to follow his stare. Mitchell then understood with dismay that the monster somehow guessed his thoughts; the blue thing walked toward the tray, stretched its arm looking stone limb and grabbed the tool. "Oh shit! Oh fucking shit!!" Thought the mute Cam, wide eying the Letelk thing now coming back to him with the blade in its hand. Again he tried to make a sound, to break free, to shake noisily the hospital bed but that wasn't working. The monster lifted the scalpel and slowly brought it toward Mitchell right arm; panicked by this impossible to reason up being, the man fought and fought again to try to dodge his limb, only succeeding to bruised up his skin raw at some place under the restraints. The stone alien shaped another blue arm and used this new hand to rip off the sleeve of Mitchell's vest, exposing his forearm.

Cam silently screamed and winced when the thin blade cut through his skin in several long gashes, letting out a clear flow of blood. It seemed to be so exited by the sigh of blood that it let out a long hissing, starting to cut the skin again and hurting the man again. The Letelk vicious monster then threw away the tool and quickly brought its kind of head and arms to the man's forearm, melting itself together like a giant snake, diving on the bleeding cuts. The sight of this creature on his arm, the feeling of that warm energy on his injured skin that was sucking out his blood, the exited hissing the thing was doing… all this made Cam's stomach churn in disgust. When he tried to fight again, attempting to knock the alien off, the Letelk thing only putted more pressure on his limb; something that would have tore out a grunt or a swearing out of the human because of the suffering it brought.

A minute or two passed and Cameron began to feel dizzy and sleepy, his mouth and throat dry as Egypt sands and his right fingers numb and cold; it was the blood loss and he would faint soon if the thing kept on… The thing was pressing even more and the man couldn't stop panting to hold the pain. And maybe his heart would stop as well if the thing would not left enough haemoglobin in his veins, the drained colonel thought.

As his sight began to fade and that he felt like he was left without an iota of strength, he heard a distant and muffled voice giving orders. The startled Letelk thing immediately get off Mitchell's arm, starting that painful fire sensation once more. Then he saw it quickly move its arm toward his throat once more and he silently cried out when he had that feeling of needles through his skin again. When he stopped coughing and wincing from this totally sore throat, the monster was already gone and, a second after, an afro-American woman rushed in.

"Oh by Sheshian and the Goddess!" Exclaimed the woman with a touch of concern in her deep and sweet voice. She quickly made her way to the colonel that was looking at her with glassy eyes and a confused look. "What have you done?!" She asked, stunned.

"W…wha…?" Managed to wheeze huskily the colonel without understanding what she was talking about.

It was when he faintly followed her look and saw the cuts on his arms that he realized how wrong it looked: deep bloody cuttings his wrist… The _doctor_ will think he tried to commit suicide or something because it was all it looked like…

"Wait… that's not… that's not what you think it is!" Protested dimly Mitchell, knowing it was what she actually thought just when he saw the glare she gave him as she was looking at the injuries. Although he had to blink many time before being able to focus on something or on her.

"I have been told you were stroke in the stomach and spat some blood, not cut open and bleeding to death! I know those humans and they never play with knifes on a hostage!" She replied with a reprimanding tone, reaching for something hung across her belt.

"Those humans? …" Mitchell asked, slightly frowning.

"Yeah; I'm a Cadelan… an _alien_ you might say." She explained quickly, pressing some buttons on the device she was holding. "That won't be long…" She added before pointing the thing at the colonel.

"What's that thing?" Instinctively asked Cam, fighting the links faintly, worried about what could be another mean for torturing him.

"Relax, it is only a scanner, to detect what possible injuries you have…" She answered, before adding with a bitter tone: "Something my people invented… and Mayka and her crew call me _Doctor_ simply because I'm the only one aboard to own such a device; I know nothing else than what tells me that thing, I use to be a law student before coming on that planet... So let's hope you won't need any surgery; you would be really disappointed by the way I work…"

Cameron studied her as she was slowly passing the device over him, knowing that there was nothing else he could do, that the woman was caring way better than the monster and too tired to keep on fighting anyway. Her dark skin looked soft and young even with the stern and concerned look she had on, her oddly shiny bronze hair was skilfully braided and the colourful marking she had on her cheek was intriguing. The most impressive was her so pale iris that they were nearly invisible. Cameron caught the frown she gave at the screen of the small scanner:

"No internal injury at all, maybe some blood in the airway, the stomach and in the abdomen but that is not worrying I guess… There is also something about a wounded sinew in the left knee but only time will heal that. And of course there is a great blood loss because of those self inflicted cuts…That is why you're so pale and worn out looking." The _doctor_ explained, still looking at the device.

"No, I never tried to cut open my veins! That… that blue pebble alien did!!" Protested Mitchell, irritated and lifting his head to stare at the woman.

"Great; hallucinations and a racist joke against aliens… _thank_." The Cadelan woman said with a sarcastic and peeved tone, reaching for the first aid kit without looking at the gorgeous man.

"Hey! I'm not crazy, I saw that thing and it wasn't the fist time! It's following me; I saw it out there after my fall from the hella snow-bike and…" Mitchell began to protest

"You did fall: you knocked your head! You had a concussion: you're out of your mind, see things and try to mutilate yourself in I-don't-know-what-madness! … That is clear to me!" She interrupted with a severe tone.

"I'm fine, I don't have any concussion! And how do you explain I heard the thing passing through the gate beside me when we came in?" Exclaimed-he.

"Did you see it then?" She asked, frowning.

"No, it turned invisible but…" He began, shaking his head in negation. However, when he saw the doubtful look on her face, he added quickly: "I know that sounds crazy and I still hardly believe it myself but it's true…trust me, doctor!"

On that, still with her disbelieving glace in his eyes, she applied a large bandage on his wounded forearm. She couldn't not help but feel a bit touched by this poor weak pale and garbled good looking man; he winced then he looked at her with that pleading look in his hypnotising blue eyes.

"That won't be long…" She let out, ignoring his words as she was not believing at all.

She then moved to his left leg with an elastic bandage, untied this limb and lifted the end of his pants to take care of his injured knee. He clenched his jaw to distract himself from the burning pain, and then Cam let out with a teasing tone:

"Why not untie my hands as well? I'm sure that would help me feel better, doctor."

"Nice try…" She mumbled before setting the bottom of his pants right and backing off.

"That's what they keep saying…" Cam jested; he saw how she was looking at him… maybe he could charm her and get some help from the Cadelan woman to liberate the complete team….

However, at this moment, they both heard some footsteps at the doorway and turned their head to discover who it was. The self-claimed Captain came in with quite and bossy strides, seeming nearly concerned when her eyes went on the colonel's face. He was still so pale because of the blood loss. Though, the thick tread of her black boot encountered a metallic object on the ground. Wondering and frowning, she stopped and bended down to grab the tool: it was a blood stained scalpel. She finally reached the hospital bed, her eyes set on the blade, evaluating it.

"Not my work, that's his…" The black woman let out, her look dodging Mitchell's eyes.

"Like hell, that's…" Cam began to protest.

"Do I look to care?" Royer interrupt coldly. She carelessly tossed the cutting knife away on the floor behind her and turned toward the Cadelan: "So, are we going to lose the money of his ransom?"

"If it means: "Is-he ok?" Then yes, he is. He only looks weakened, nothing more." The _doctor_ answered.

"I'm not weakened…" The man muttered with denial, irritated to be that humiliated and helpless.

"Fine, he's lucky I feel generous today or else I would have kicked him where it hurts… How can he be that stupid to think he can fool us like this with the blood-spitting scene?" She sighed, ignoring him. After that, she settled her fist on her hips then kept on: "I know how to cure suicidal freak: I'll take him to the mess hall… -or what's left of it- and settle a little cute meeting with his pals…If that doesn't cheer him up…"

He raised an instinctive look full of hope on Mayka as she was facing the doctor and not noticing, thinking that they were finally going to be able to manage their escape all together. On the other hand that quickly seemed too good to be true; why would she do such a favour to them? Maybe she was planning to spy on them and learn more about them or their possible plan to get away. Or maybe she was only lying…

"You're really gonna do this?..." He asked in a tone that clearly told he wasn't ready to fall in her traps again.

"Well, why not? D'you think I'll tell everyone I'm sending you somewhere to then throw you overboard or something? I am impulsive, but not that much." She answered, a little bit unsettled by the sudden reaction of the man.

"Perhaps because you are not actually in control here after all; every kind of shit can get in your ship…" He snapped. He had understood that she wanted them all alive to get more money. Yet there was that Letelk creature that was prowling around and was very dangerous. So Cam had in mind to make sure this creature would be out of their way when the time to get back to the gate will come and he had in mind to let that little alien hunting in the hands of those kidnappers. One shot, two foes down... If he could at the same time anger her up with his wry answers, she will in fact lose her self-control as she often did and will be easier to manipulate.

"Who or what are you talking about?" She asked, emphasising every word, with a suspicious tone.

"You got a hostile being let loose somewhere in the place…" He began with a serious tone.

"Damn it… Captain I wouldn't listen to him if I were you, he…" Interrupted the Doctor with an exasperated sight.

"Hey, we're trying to talk here!" Mayka hushed her fast.

"What I was saying is that you should seek out for some unusual movements in the ship, with all the scanners you got, something that had nothing to do with your... _crew_…" Ended Cameron, still as serious with that matter.

The captain stared at him for a few seconds, pondering on what he said, her cold and stern look still on her smooth face. Then, without a word, she grabbed the footboard of the hospital bed and began to push it toward the exit of the infirmary, ignoring the man. Cameron let out a frustrated sigh without trying to fight on the moment, not able to tell whatever would happen then in that obviously crazy house…

**to be continued!!**


	6. Chapter 6

Mayka was now standing behind that special kind of window that is used to spy on some people by looking by a side, but that look like a plain mirror on the other side… She installed it that day she decided to closely watch her crew when they were partying in the mess hall. Then their captain would watch them to make sure they were not plotting against her, it was her plan. But the room -that wasn't used as a cafeteria since every one aboard wanted to eat in their own office if it could get them a free room to, in fact, rave out as mad teenagers- was now utterly damaged and vandalized after all what went through. To conclude: the room looked pitifully dilapidated, her stupid anarchist thief crew stopped going in it and she decided to settle her prisoner in it only because of the special glass and the tiny mike hidden everywhere. Ok, that was pathetic.

The other side of the window, she could see the hostages they just caught, waiting for their attractive yet odd leader to be brought in, ignoring that somebody was listening to every little chat they had. The door behind her opened, letting in the so called _doctor_ and the lieutenant.

"What again?! I can't spend all my spare time to watch idiots…" Mayka growled before turning to face them.

"Aren't you already doing so right now?" Snapped the Cadelan, irritated by the manners of their captain, suggesting about the fact Royer organized the complete SG1 meeting to come to, in fact, keep an eye on them.

"I hate aliens…" Muttered Mayka.

"That ship you are leading, it wouldn't exist if it wasn't of my people…" The black Cadelan snapped., before adding: "Once more I am here to protest against the idea to gather all our prisoner at the same time. Even with all our guards waiting outside the room, that is totally unintelligent."

"She's right: last time the hostages killed each other at the very first meeting…" Said the lieutenant, a pale sardonic young man with the hair and the eyebrow all shaved up. This man hated the self-claimed captain and all her little plans: that time the prisoner got into a fight and killed each other, he was the one to cause it and was ready to do so again if it could humiliate and dethrone Mayka…The more mistakes she made, the more prestige she lose and the more annoyed the crew became. And currently, she was on a slope going down.

"I told you: this is to test them, to find out what they are up to. How could we guess how we should watch our kidnapper ass if we know nothing of our hostages? You see that uniform? Well I do and I know that the most equipped the costume is, the more dangerous and tactful they are…" The captain answered, quite irritated.

"So why don't we keep them all separated, each in their own cell?" The _doctor_ asked.

"Yeah, I doubt that once they'll be alone, they will still be any kind of threat. I already contacted the USA Air force and they seemed quite interested by buying _every_ of them… Meaning we cannot let them act foolish" The lieutenant commented.

"We keep them in groups because we do not have enough guards to keep them all separated! Come on: you're the doctor! And you're the lieutenant when the only thing you did is being the lead singer in an I-don't-even-know-which-group! Drunk'O'Joe's the pilot _and_ the cook! We even got a farm boy to take care of the ship finance… How can we manage a ship that big if all the crew's to watch the prisoners?!" Mayka spat, stared at them and added: "Now get lost I'm busy! Go go go now!"

Baffled, the lieutenant and the Cadelan left the room, glancing at each other in disbelieve. Royer then turned back to the window.

---------

"Vala, stop looking at the mirror; they will notice we know they are watching…" Daniel whispered to her in a pressing tone.

"I was barely watching that way!" She protested in a low voice, eying him furiously.

They were all sitting at some ramshackle tables and chair, their hand still handcuffed in front of them and an annoyed look on their face. They were in that messy room for more than half an hour, waiting in the middle of all those broken bottles and furniture, obviously knowing they were spied on. The few words they whispered about a way to escape were useless: they didn't know where Mitchell was and they would certainly not leave without him.

"I can't believe we are hold like this by simple humans from Earth! I mean: we already fought many people and creature from outer space that were way more dangerous than _them_…" Daniel sighed, dropping his head.

"I'm sure there is still many way to escape, we only have to concentrate and work on it." Carter said in a low voice, trying to stay positive.

"They may outnumber us, but they are not well-disciplined and true warriors. We can use it to our advantage." Teal'c stated in a half-tone.

At this moment, the door slapped open, letting in two guards followed by what seemed to be a hospital bed and then two other guards. The first two armed men stepped to the side to let the bed pass them, and then walked back out of the room.

"Mitchell?!" Exclaimed Samantha with surprise and concern, slowly standing up as she recognized the man leaning on the bed.

"Hey!" He simply said as the guards were still rolling the bed toward the other members of SG1. He tried to look as neutral as he could, but his tone made clear that he was actually quite exhausted.

The two armed men gave a push to the hospital bed then turned their back on the hostages and left the room as the couch went crashing in one table. Still attached on it, Mitchell swore with the pain the shock caused and the frustration the stupid Mayka's crew was causing. His team quickly rushed to him and untied him from the bed, angered as well by those guards that even left with a chuckle. Cameron then sat up slowly, blinking a few time since he moved regardless too quickly and immediately felt dizzy.

"Cam! What happened to you?" Asked Carter now that the man was trying to get down the bed, helped by Teal'c. She sure noticed his shaky and pale look as long with his sluggish ways.

Before answering, he rubbed a little bit his eyes and sighed. Yet, in doing this, he kind of showed off the bandage on his forearm and a little bit of blood passed through the fabric and tainted it. When he opened back his eyes; that was clear that they were all looking with concern at his injured forearm.

"What is it you got there?" Asked Vala, telling what they were all wondering.

Until now their captors only handcuffed them without even touching them; there was no need to torture to seek information or anything, the dressed in black crew only wanted to deliver them alive. So to see Mitchell wounded up that way, it was illogical.

"What?... Oh… it's… nothin' to worry about; it's not our main concern…" Mitchell answered, doing the best he could to cover the drained voice he had.

"They just… cut you?" Jackson kept on, interrupting him with a doubtful tone.

"Hell no, it's not them it's…" Began Mitchell, closing his eyes and frowning with exasperation as he was looking for the right words.

"You did?" Vala tried.

"No! I didn't… Why does everybody think I would do this to myself?!" Cam complained, really annoyed.

The only thing he wanted right now was a warm shower and a full night to sleep, but it was absolutely not the time for this. He caught the wondering look set on him, sighed and freed himself from the support Teal'c offered him to help him stand up. He clenched his jaw as pain broke into his injured knee but he tried to cover the mask of suffering he had on his face and explained with a peeved tone:

"Listen; I know that will sound crazy, they all told me so… but it was real. There is some kind of… a monster or something, a creature going around without anybody noticing. But where it gets hard to believe is when it comes to the fact that this _thing_ can turn out invisible and seems to be stuck on the idea to play at piñata with me…"

"Right…" Carter began, trying to make sense of what Cam was saying; once more, the question was: why him? Why was he the only one to be attacked and to see the creature? "How it looked like then?" She asked.

"Bubbly and artificial blue… like…" He began.

"Oh, fine; I know what it is all about… Mitchell, you don't have to make up such a story if it is what you want to hear: I am truly sorry for punching you in the face! And I will even give you my jelly next time we have diner together…" Vala interrupted with a melodramatic and exasperated sigh, shaking her cuffs in a metallic dingle as she was gesturing

"Uh… yeah uh… we'll talk about that later ok?" Daniel let out after a short silence, blinking at Mal Doran on this surprisingly awkward moment. "Mitchell?..." He then said to ask him to go on, facing Cam again.

"Uh… the creature yeah, ok." He began, clearly puzzled by Vala's overreacting. After that, he focused on what he was going to say: "It was made of blue rocks, I don't know how that was sticking together but it was. And it acted like a human being, but if that thing was really human, then Big T's my grandma!"

"Blue stone… that's telling me something…" Began Carter, thoughtful.

"Of course: the Letelk stone! You just saw a Letelk creature that means!" Said Daniel, as all the pieces of the puzzle were finally fitting together… or at least some of them concerning the mysterious healings.

"What were the creature intentions, Colonel Mitchell?" Teal'c asked Cam.

"More like a nasty bloodsucker monster…" He half-muttered, still remembering the awful pain the thing caused.

However, their little meeting couldn't last forever and Mayka maybe told the truth about it, but she forgot to mention that it wouldn't last too long. In fact, the door clapped open once more and eight guards came in, their alien guns in hand and a mean look on their face.

"Don't tell me it's over yet!" Let out Sam with desperation as she saw them coming to split the team and send them back in their room.

Teal'c and Mitchell immediately straighten up their torso and turning toward the newcomers, as they were ready to fight those armed men to not see their team separated again. Cameron even subtlety grabbed a broken bottle that laid on the table, in case it could be a useful weapon… Teal'c had the same idea and slowly bended down to take hold of a piece of wood, probably a part of a broken chair.

"What did we say? We were not planning your downfall here!" Complained Vala as the guards were carefully approaching, giving away the fact they knew they were spied on.

But they stopped before reaching the SG1 members, a mischievous grin still on their faces.

"You should all surrender and drop whatever piece of junk you grabbed…" One of them said with a strong accent; it was the lieutenant.

"That would be too easy; y'still have to work to own that money, guys." Mitchell snapped, smirking at them.

"I am warning you: if we are seriously life threatened, we will have to use more strength to subdue all of you…" The lieutenant warned with a roguish tone.

"Wait, do you guys have some kind of laws to rely on?!" Asked Mitchell with a fake impressed tone, still teasing them.

"Mitchell, it's not the right time to play at this little game with them! And I don't think you're in a proper condition to struggle for now…" Carter began, whispering to the colonel with concern; something was telling her that this one captor wasn't as exited to treat the prisoners well...

As he was turning his head to face her, going to tell her how well he was and that his condition wouldn't stop them at all this time, he heard a slight whistle of something sliding quickly in the air, then felt something stinging hard on his chest. He instinctively slapped his cuffed hand on in, letting out a choked groan and some muttered swearings. He could hear Teal'c unpleased growl, but before the SG1 leader could give a wry comment on what the lieutenant just did to him with his dart-gun, the muscles around the spike began to painfully and strongly clasp. Crying out, he immediately tore off the dart, but it was too late: the chemical inside it was already in Mitchell's body… The pang quickly spread to the muscle between his ribs, like a hurting wave of cramps. That was now oppressing his complete chest and he quickly collapsed on his knees –even on his injured one, but that wasn't the greatest suffering at this moment- arms thigh around his torso groaning and choking as he felt like his own clasping muscles were going to squeeze to death his lungs. The others rushed to him; he could feel some hands on his shivering shoulders and in his perpirating back, but he couldn't hear anything and his sigh was fading. That wouldn't go away, the worst pain of all… Even his ribs seemed to be pushing on his guts in a sickening overwhelming way. Every time he tried to take a deep breath, the pain and the pressure were getting worst.

"Gosssshhhh" He groaned before faintly coughing one time; it was like an elephant was stomping on him and crushing him. He collapsed on his side and curled, still helplessly choking.

But the guards were not doing anything to save him, and Teal'c Vala, Daniel and Carter could only try to help Cam relax, in vain. How could they stop an attack they could not see, a poison already in the man's muscles? Vala lifted his head so he wouldn't knock it on the hard floor, but the man couldn't even notice whatever was going around him. Then the painful cramping feeling suddenly moved once more: it switched so quickly to the man's heart that he stayed stunned for a second, mouth half opened and wide eyed, before convulsing a little under that utterly aching and blanking out. His heart stopped three seconds, but it was enough to knock him out and to deactivate the cruel chemical.

"Now everybody backs off and waits quietly or the same thing will happen to you. I seriously doubt that Army-Boy here enjoyed it… and the awakening future as well so…" Warned the lieutenant, reaching for another dart and loading his gun with.

The SG1 team stayed shocked by the madness of that man; Teal'c would had jump on the lieutenant to beat him to death, but the pleading look Vala, Sam and Daniel gave him made him give up the foolish idea to fight those monster. They heard furious and rushed footsteps in the corridor before Mayka erupted, looking awfully fuming. She saw everything from behind the glass…

"Lieutenant!!!! How… How dare you doing this to the prisoners?! Had you lost your mind?! What if he had any kind of heart disease or weakness, uh?! You would have killed him, right?!" She shouted at him.

"No Captain, I…" He answered, not even regretting.

"I know what happened, don't even mind explaining yourself! Now you will be in charge to drag the man all by yourself to the infirmary before I tell you what I really think of you! And if you dare dropping him along the way, you can say goodbye to all your teeth!" She interrupted, still roaring. She couldn't help but wanting so bad to protect this particular hostage; he had a little something she couldn't identify that was mesmerizing her and she didn't want to let him be too "damaged" until she really find out what was driving her crazy in him.

Without a word but looking offended, the lieutenant walked to the unconscious Cam and began to drag him back to the hospital bed as the guards were going for the other SG1 members. Really downcast by the sigh of their leader lying sadly on the dirty floor, they could not help but feel hatred for their captors, trying the harder they could to think of a way out of that hella ship. After some long minutes on their respective task, the lieutenant and the guards left the room with the poor Mitchell back on the bed, followed by a captain so angered up that she could kill. They finally pushed the bed in the infirmary, let it there for an eventual visit from the doctor and left the room.

However, hidden in a corner under a desk, a mass of blue polished stones was waiting, waiting to be alone with the prey it couldn't abandon once it tasted it…

To be continued!


	7. Chapter 7

« What do you mean by that?! » Asked Carter with surprise, tearing her gaze away from the reluctant review of the dull looking platters of food Mayka just brought them.

"Oh, yeah I forgot you did not know…" the Captain chuckled a little bit as if the answer was quite ridiculous: "The gate… it is rotting in a pointless place like the Great White North because of a simple glitch it had; they threw it away. If you felt in our trap it shows that you've been fooled by the malfunction…But the thing is that you only have to knock a little bit on the kind of control panel: the energy comes back in and the gate can be used without any problem… We're probably the only ones to know, sorry…"

Sam opened widely her eyes, realizing how stupid their situation was: they could have return to SGC right on place if they knew that a primitive manoeuvre like this one could save them. She peeked at Teal'c to find him as embarrassed as she was by this revelation, but it quickly came to her mind that there wasn't only the stuck gate that was problematic.

"But how do you explain the fact that our two gates were linked when it shouldn't be this way, that anomaly could do such a thing?" Carter asked suddenly.

"I couldn't tell, really…You know, the last time I've heard of parallel universe oddly connected to mine has been followed by a kind of crisis: it was on every newspaper…" Mayka said, after having looked at her with a long scrutinizing look before answering.

"What kind of crisis?" Asked the Jaffa.

"The serial killer kind: they've found a lot of bodies in the area surrounding the gate that had recorded some abnormal readings from those so called _other universes_. I remember how they kept telling the bodies were left without a single millilitre of lymph… I even read somewhere that is was a mad geneticist that wanted human blood for their crazy projects… But then, no one had ever seen the so called killer… And I don't think that only because it happened after the alien readings that it means there is a bond between those two events." Royer answered with an uncurious tone.

"That killer… could it be a phenomenon caused by some wormhole volatility?" Carter asked, frowning as she was mentally evaluating that new information.

"Only if a wormhole can cut through some people skin with any kind of weapon…according to the news…" Said Mayka, now wondering where Carter was leading them with her reflections.

"And what if that killer caused the volatility? …" Sam asked, feeling like she was getting closer to the real answer.

"Again, I couldn't tell." Stated the self-claimed captain with a suspicious glare at her. Mayka then subtlety looked at her watch, considering what time it was: "But now I have to go to take care of some really annoying quarrels within the crew: they just cannot stay still for half an hour… Sometime I feel like they are not listening to me anymore…" She sighed with an exasperated tone.

For this very moment, Carter and Teal'c could swear that they saw in that bossy lady a young and lost woman that had to play it the hard way to get something from this cruel version of Earth… After all, she came in their cell to personally bring them some food and water and to inform them about Colonel Mitchell's condition -after some hours where they were let to worry and to try to unscrew the door in order to escape- as well as telling them about their next time in the mess hall. But she quickly took back her dangerously unpredictable look and proudly and coldly drove out of the room, locked the door of the windowless piece and walked away to confront the consequence of her weakened authority.

* * *

"You?! I'm so going to make you regret!!"

Yelled Vala with anger, jolting to her feet when she recognized the guard coming in their cell and closing the door behind him. However, Jackson and she could not reach the man; since they tried at least four times to escape and make their way to the corridor, they had some links added to their handcuffs and attached to the wall to keep them still.

"What do you want with us now? After what you did to Mitchell, you hadn't enough?" Daniel snapped bitterly at the stranger, pulling on his links in vain.

"Mitchell?... Ya mean Army-Boy?" The new guard asked, his tone shaking with the high potency of alcohol in his blood drank to drown his sorrow.

"He's not the Army's boy, he's our! And cut your flaky falsely innocent chats, _lieutenant_, how can you pretend to deserve your title if it is to treat people that way?!" Vala exclaim, outraged and admonitory.

"Do not mention anything about my former rank, you stupid! You don't understand! Royer had no right to take it from me anyway!!" The, in fact, newly named simple guard and former lieutenant said madly.

To punish him, it was clear that Mayka downgraded him and the bitter man didn't take it too well. Because Mal Doran and Jackson were under a strict supervising, they could see a different guard coming in each hour to replace the previous one and every guard they met was as pitiful as the former lieutenant; half of them were already drunk in the afternoon, some were sleeping when they should be watching to prisoners a so on… So to see another one unsteady even when standing and with a bottle in hands, it was as exasperating.

"Oh, you think she had no right? She's the leader aboard and she did well to penalize you this way… If I was in command, I would have thrown you off the ship at the very moment!" Vala kept on with anger.

"She doesn't know how to… to uh… to manage a ship and a crew: we had enough of her; she is leading us to our financial doom! Last week, she fired our last real treasurer only because he crashed into a ship wall wile driving a snow-bike in the corridors! She really deserves to be kicked out, really!" The former lieutenant protested, rubbing his shaved head with a sulky look on his face.

"You know nothing of…" Began Vala with anger.

"Val, listen a second!" Interrupted Jackson in a half tone, pulling slightly on her arm to make her face him: "I think we should use this to our benefit…" He whispered to her.

"What? Use what?" Vala asked, whispering as well but not knowing where Daniel was getting at. However, the man didn't answer and faced back the former lieutenant to say in an innocent tone:

"And, uh… you never thought about revolting and winning the command of the ship, you and the rest of the crew?"

"To revolt? Whatcha… what do you mean by that?" The guard asked, frowning as if it was hard to think while being fuddly.

"You just have to take arms and to overthrow her. You can ask those on your side to make some noise and some havoc anywhere on the ship to distract her. If you do this suddenly enough, you will surely win…" Daniel explained.

At this moment, Vala stopped frowning in wondering at him, finally understanding Jackson's plan: the little rebellion would distract the entire crew long enough to allow them to escape, find the others and then fly from this crazy house once for all. A broad smile lighted up her face as she looked at Daniel: that was a wonderful _and_ amusing plan: they were going to sow discord in the French Canadian pirate ranks… The former lieutenant sat on a chair near the door, looking at them with glassy eyes.

"Oh, and you could start right now: she thinks you will stay quiet now that she just punished you! But she won't know how wrong she is! And why not using the treasurer's tip: crashing into a wall or two with your giant engines is the perfect way to scare her to death…" Mal Doran added cheerfully.

"Heh that's a really… really bright idea… yeah!" The guard began while idiotically chuckling, driving Daniel and Vala even more exited as the plan seemed to be working perfectly and even more. "But I cannot do this right now: I want…want to finish my drink first…" He added: the two SG1 member's smile melted down as they feared he wouldn't do so after all.

"Ah, come on; you can drink while you are fighting with guns!… You can all do so, why not?" Vala egged on with a childish look.

"I will spill it everywhere… you don't know how much those drinks cost!" Muttered the guard.

"But once you will be freed of her tyranny, you will be able to get all the money she was stealing to all of you…" Daniel tried

"And then you will be able to buy as much alcoholic drink as you want! You'll even be able to fill a swimming pool of it…" Vala added, taking advantage of the condition of the guard.

"You sure?" The man asked.

"Of course she is; we already helped many people to fight against hostile tyrants and it always end up this way." Daniel lied once more to convince the former lieutenant.

"Well… uh…later… I'll get my people later…"The former lieutenant began, before dropping his head, falling suddenly into an alcoholic sleep. Vala and Daniel blinked at him for a second or two, surprised by how fast the conversation stopped.

"Uh… we still can try to get away right now…" Said Daniel, before they glanced at each other, still surprised.

"Yeah, that looks like… a good idea." Said Mal Doran, glaring at the former lieutenant once more before trying again to get rid of her handcuffs.

* * *

The Letelk creature waited. It waited the several hours the man slept, not moving from under the desk, only waiting. The ways this animal gets its forces are rather choosy: it is ready to starve to death if it couldn't drink the blood from the only prey it chose, even if surrounded by thousands of other suitable humans. In addition, the creature cannot feed if the blood flow is too slow: that is why it doesn't suck all in one shot and keep on healing its prey; it is to keep the haemoglobin pressure at a constant level… It was also why it was feeding upon awaked prey; only being asleep could slow down the metabolism and be adverse to the creature.

When Cameron opened his eyes, he was leaning on the same hospital bed, alone in the infirmary once more, but without only with his pants, boots, his black t-shirt and handcuffs on this time; he wasn't attached to the couch… But Mitchell didn't move from his position on the moment: all he could recall from the last days was the gruelling pain in the chest that left him numb and sore. He was breathing so slowly that his groggy and clouded mind felt as he was doing apnoea diving. At least, it seemed like there wasn't any pain left… His memories of the last days came back as gradually and it was only about five minutes after he awoke that his eyes shot open and that he sat up abruptly: the creature still prowling around, his friends and team maybe in danger...

But he immediately regretted moving that quickly: the chemical had stopped its cramps, but there was still a side effect: a temporary yet very incapacitating heart weakness …

Right away, Cameron felt as if his heart was, first, going to explode by beating that quickly and hard and then, it was like if the organ had paralysed abruptly. Clasping his hand to the left part of his chest, feeling a burning pain through his left shoulder and his racing heart all along with other cramps, the colonel fell back on the mattress, out of breath and in spasms. Cowered on his side, utterly dizzy and feeling his blood pressure lowering, Cam could only wait for his heart to calm down and the adrenalin rush to diminish. That was even more alarming then being choking and he was right now breathing heavily, blinking his wide open eyes to try to get a clear sight, in a sweat and slightly shivering, but most of all stunned. He laboured to roll back on his back, seized by the fear… It was quite upsetting to find out that one of your major organs is that malfunctioning… When the stabbing feeling nearly entirely disappeared, Cameron took a deep breath and tried once more to sit up, really slowly this time but still winded and staggered only by doing so. After a short break, he tried to slip back on his legs, wincing as he moved his still injured knee. But with that, his heartbeat accelerated once more and enough to start again the racings in his heart. Overwhelmed by the same pain and distress, he collapsed to the infirmary floor, shaking without being able to control it, suffocating by the suffering yet again, letting out a faint groan. He could feel the pulse under his clasped hand; the beating was nearly chaotic, sending sparks of soreness along with the faintly moved blood. Mitchell was paralysed by the choc and the burning sensation for a little bit longer this time, lying on his back on the cold hard ground, labouredly breathing and waiting for his heart to slow down.

"That … that ain't permanent, right? I won't keep on like this with a… a sick heart, uh? … Oh God…" He whispered to himself, wild and wide opened eyes on the ceiling above him. Only the cold silence answered him.

If that lasted and if he survive to it, he could say goodbye to the missions and the thrill of action, but also the feeling he could do something to protect the galaxy from every kind of evil. But first of all, it meant that he couldn't help at all in their great escape if every sudden movement was truly paralysing him this way. It wasn't like fighting pain or weariness; those at least you can put in the fight all your might, but when the muscle that pumps your more vital liquid decides to bug like this, there wasn't any way to win…The SG1 leader slowly glanced around, unconsciously looking for some kind of help. Yet something dark beneath a small table caught his eyes; he squinted to see what it was exactly, hoping that fog that surrounded his sight would evaporate soon. When he saw the dark shape swishing and letting out a deep and muffled hissing, the man fell as if his heart was going to explode with the seizure once again as he was trying to raise up to his feet. He was pathetically holding on the side metal bar like a drowning man hanged on a buoy, fighting to lift himself higher than that as the weakness was threatening to drag him into a dark abyss. It didn't matter: he had to get back on his feet and find a weapon to knock the shit of a Letelk beast to death or at least to avoid being on the ground as the thing was lying on it as well. The creature oddly seemed pissed up; maybe because of the side effects of the chemical in the dart that wouldn't allow it to drink… the thing was getting even more "hungry" for Mitchell's blood…

And because the man wasn't just a little bit unlucky, the bed fell on the side under his weight, sending Cam soundly back to the floor in a loud clinging noise and the sound of his skull against the hard tiles. Breathless, tore by the pain and startled by the hypnotising irregular beat of his heart, he could had stay half under the side up cheap bed forever to be apprehending the Letelk bloodsucker… If it wasn't of the one that the noise attracted.

"What again?! Army-boy?! …Where are…" Began the feminine voice of the one that just rushed in. "Oh! Damn! Stay still, I'm there!" She added when she found him.

Cameron couldn't take his gaze away from the Letelk creature about 10 meters (32,81 feet) away, overwhelmed by the visceral terror of dying the heart racing uneasiness and the sight of an enemy caused; the Cadelan doctor had to put a hand each side of his attracting but pale and sweating face, grabbing him but to cheek and forcing him to turn the head to look at her. She was clearly seeing his panic, but not the monstrous cause of it so to her, it was obvious the man was hallucinating once again.

"Hey, shhh… calm down! Look at me, look at me, sir; you have to shiver down and to breathe slowly… No, don't try to fight and look at me!" The black woman said, trying to allay his fears but still with a firm tone; she had to reason him...

"You… you have a gun? Give it to me or… just point it under the… desk; … this piece of shit… the Letelk bastard's right over there! You have to…to… just take a look damn it!" Cameron stammered faintly but clearly thwarted, short of breath and choked by this pain in the heart, but knowing she had to see it to alarm the others and kill the beast.

"Easy, easy; there is no monster under the desk nor under your bed nor in the closet and whatever; you are currently experiencing the side effects or the kind of poison you've been shot with… it is not deadly and will disappear in about a day, but you have to stay quiet if you don't want to get those seizures once again…" The doctor tried another time, firmly holding the head of the faintly fighting human and staring right into his pure blue but wild eyes. She liked holding him like a poor feverish misplaced boy, feeling so generous and loving only to dispel his nightmares. She loved the unnecessary worried look he had but she knew she should ease his distress…

"Why… can't you understand… that I might be telling the truth? Is…is it that hard to… accept?" Cameron asked with a brokenly but clearly peeved tone, clasping his hands on her forearms in a vain attempt to fight and break free from her caring hold.

She didn't answer, as she was dampened by the sudden lucidity of that poor man: he really wanted her to get in that little game about monster and giant dinosaur or what? She slowly set the man's head back on the floor and took her hands off him, subtlety reaching for the syringe of sedative she kept in her doctor smock, in case one of her patient was becoming too violent. It has been easy: Cameron had once more turned his head to look for the Letelk creature that had obviously moved while they were talking so he didn't notice until it was too late and that the woman would have already sting him.

"N… no why you… I… must…"Mumblered Cameron as he was fighting really hard to keep his eyes opened, falling quickly into unconsciousness, clearly protesting about being shut down when the danger was so close.

He was asleep. The Cadelan woman looked at him doing so, troubled about how fast a sane and good looking man could fall into psychosis. But before standing up and calling for some guards to help her putting Mitchell back on a bed -one that could not fall this time- , she had to be sure of one thing… She bended even more to the floor, one of her ears leaning on the cold tile as she was looking carefully around. But the Letelk monster did one of the most cruel thing it could do right now; it turned into camouflage mode. The Cadelan could see nothing under the desk, nor under the other beds and furniture in the room… nothing, it was only in the colonel's imagination. She sighed, a little bit bitter.

**To be continued!!**


	8. Chapter 8

**author note: even Xmas won't stop my sadic writing XD**

**-------**

« Why aren't we moving? What's with the engines this time?!" Asked Mayka to leader of the technicians aboard, her tone clearly irritated as she emphasised every word of her sentences.

Because the situation was not that good: their ship, yet stolen and too gigantic for its crew, was leading to the border of the country to deliver their prisoners: the US Ministry of Defence was going to pay a high price to the French speaking terrorists if they brought them that odd but maybe useful -to gather information about any kind of alien technology and weapon- team called SG1… However, the giant vehicle stopped going forward to only float on place above the snowy fields. That would be catastrophic if the malfunction was not repaired soon: if the trip gets too long, they would need some new stocks of food, water, fuel and many more.

"It's not the engines this time: it is the cooling system that seems to be out of order… if we do not repair it, the motor might overheat and blow off once for all…" The technician explained.

"The cooling thingies kicked the bucket all of a sudden like this? Mayka asked, frowning and slightly suspicious looking. "It worked when I went to sleep at about 4 am… It's only eight hours away…" She then added to show how weird it seemed.

"Uh… well when we went outside to check out the problem, it seems they've been filled with… beer cans and bottles…" The other answered sheepishly, knowing that won't please her at all.

"Some guys in the crew went outside and walked on the risky footbridge while carrying enough junk to block those venting things to finally ruin the system?... They're not stupid enough to do that unconsciously. That is obviously sabotaging!"

Her last words were barely audible as she whispered dryly, burning with anger. What she feared the most was happening; after all she did for them, those lazy and stupid scoundrels were revolting, slowly but still… If she doesn't get her hands on the guilty ones and fired them, the madness could spread to the entire ship. She should have known that pitiful thieves are not the perfect pirate ship crew.

"So… uh, what do we do about the cooling system now?" The technician tried shyly.

"You think the hostages would enjoy emptying the pipes of the alcoholic trash?" Mayka let out, looking slightly away with an aloof gaze.

"I don't even know your hostages, but why them?" Asked the man, dubious about that plan.

"I think I trust them even more than the crew itself now… Except for the Cadelan doctor, Jasde, I'm sure they would stab me if they could win a free Vodka by doing so… They won't be able to escape anyway: we're at about 20 meters (65,62 feet) above the ground with no way to get down without killing themselves, plus nobody but them is willing to _work._" Mayka began coldly and bitterly, before adding: "And it's been three day since we caught them at the gate, I'm sure they're bored to stay in the same ugly rooms."

The man glanced at her, disbelieving when he realized she was serious about letting the hostage get out the ship to repair it. She even looked agreeable when she mentioned the fact that they could be annoyed to be prisoners. As he was observing her and wondering, Royer took her radio to call some guards, only to hear a static sound: their radios were off. The woman chuckled nervously, apprehending the worst, before turning back to face the man and saying:

"You, you know how to handle a dart gun? ... No? ... Whatever… I'll get you one and you'll follow me to the cells."

Without waiting for the man, the captain left the control room, heading to the many rooms they managed as cells, her heavy boots echoing in the too desert and empty corridors. Something bad was going to happen soon, she could feel it.

* * *

Cameron's hearing awoke first with some very distant sputters. He felt as his body was made of rubber; the drowsiness effect of the sedative the doctor gave him… There were so many cobwebs in his brain and before his eyes when he finally opened it that his drugged mind thought about that movie he once watched where giant spiders were attacking people, yet the whole hideous monster attack sounded familiar suddenly... but how could he know something like those scenes?

"I'll be ok with him… just look how beaten up he looks; I doubt he'll be such a threat. Just go wait for me outside the infirmary, that won't be too long." A voice said remotely.

Mitchell let out a choked groan as he tried to move on what seemed to be another cheap bed, wanting to discover who was now entering the room and shutting the door. He sure hoped that the headache he had would go away, but it was vain for now. A dark silhouette approached slowly as a cat playing with the mouse before killing it Cam thought, but in reality, that person was trying to be as silent as possible to not wake the man up. Memories were starting to come back and this time, the SG1 leader closed back his eyes and clenched his jaw, knowing he should be more careful to not end up on the floor like he did not so long ago. At least the cruel pain in the chest was gone this time, and the lethargy seemed to be leaving his mind enough to let him think as he should. The other in the room was not the Letelk monster, but was it the doctor? He couldn't tell since he didn't know how long he has been asleep. Anyway: he acted like he was still asleep to surprise even more the other being in the room that walked toward him, just in case it was a chance to escape.

Cam knew the other was now just beside his bed, watching over him without saying anything, he knew it even with his eyes shut. He tried to hide how tense he was, ready to fight his tiredness and this stranger he guessed at his side if he had to, waiting for the perfect moment to jump off his reclined bearing. He was free from his handcuffs… the Cadelan had took them off, luckily for him. Then he heard the subtle rustle of a sleeve on the rest of the clothing, the minimal moved air on his disrobed arms, the brushing feeling on his bandage on the forearm, he could feel the other's hand stretched just over him and toward his face. Then he felt some fine fingers running very gently across his cheek to his nearly all healed black eye; he nearly recoiled. Cameron knew he had to react, letting out his swifter reflexes: he shot open his eyes, saw without raising his head to see the other's face the weapon hung on a belt of somebody bended just over him -as if it was the only thing in his universe on the moment- and reached for it. In one second, the woman that was bending herself to take a closer look at the pleasant face of the man _asleep_ felt the tip of her own dart gun poking her sternum.

"I guess som'thing turned my luck around, what d'you think about that?..." Mitchel snarled in a so stoic tone that it made the woman frisson. The man began to sit up by leaning on one elbow, pressing on the woman with the weapon to make her step back a little bit.

"You're doing better… I'd say just in time 'cause you're needed on the gangplank." Mayka said, staying as cool as the man, not going to give up on her self-pride that quickly. She then slowly lowered her eyes to look at the gun obviously aiming at her, directly pressed on her torso; that close and straight to the heart, the shot could be deadly even if the darts were to sedate only… "Looks like you got me." She added with an emotionless tone, looking right into his pure azure eyes filled with anger.

"And you're a bright one, _captain_… Now that the good ol' spiky gun's on my side, you'll have to lead me to the others. We'll play it this way: I'll be the mad armed man and you'll be the poor hostage also acting the human shield and my pass to anywhere aboard this ship…Any comments?" Said Cam with a slight smirk on his lips.

"You want to see them? So be my guest." Royer answered as she didn't care, backing up a little bit as Mitchell sat up while once more pressing on the gun. She could see a slight shadow passing across his face when he moved his legs and she remembered that he has been quite lucky to get out of the pit with only a light injury, but she couldn't deny the acceleration of her heartbeat at this sight.

Yet the woman would not back off far away as a scared schoolgirl: at the opposite she had now straighten up her torso with a proud look, staying the closer to the weapon she could only to defy the man. The captain could now see in his eyes how irritated he was to be held prisoner this way and maybe even to be injured with no obvious reason. She wasn't scared of the tall and muscular man, of his strong hands tightly around the dart pistol, of his training to fight and murder properly even if she knew he could kill her in so many different ways. Because if he really wanted, then she would let him kill her without even fighting back, staring right in his icy eyes to the very end only to confront and tease him. That would be the better death she could think of right now, even better than dying in her sleep. She realized that no one but a that attractive military man could take her life away…

Cameron finally sat up and slid his feet to the floor, holding a flinch and a wince when he putted some pressure on his still injured but healing left knee. However, his eyes went quickly glassy for a moment as vertigo overwhelmed him; Cam lurched and began to incline forward and would had stumble and collapse to the ground if he hadn't unconsciously stretched an arm to lean on the woman's shoulder. Mayka didn't even try to take back her gun while she could do so without being noticed by the blinking pale man. He let out a muffled groan that she heard this time, struggling to stay on his feet. How cute he looked, thought the captain, she supported his weight the best she could without trying to cuddle him in her arms; it wasn't the right time to try so… She waited without any snappy comment or mockery until Cam got steadier and let go her shoulder, the man embarrassed and humiliate to look that weak while trying to threat the bossy captor. Of course the heart killing chemical was gone, but the hammering pain and weariness of the two previous days was getting heavier and harder to fight and the sedative was still lightly present in his blood. He gulped sullenly, suddenly grabbed her by the upper arm, turned her around and pressed the gun on her back while holding her tightly.

"Go ahead and tell your friends waiting outside that they shouldn't try anything against me or the rest of my team…" Mitchell growled while slightly but firmly shoving her forward. She didn't protested and did what he wanted. He hided the best he could the fact that this walk wasn't quite easy for him after all…

* * *

"You should put on one of those as well…" Warned Mayka as she was putting on a body harness like those they use in hill climbing.

She wasn't bothered by the whipping icy wind at all, not facing Cam that, him, was squinting and trying to protect his face with one hand while watching the woman carefully. She just opened the heavy door leading to a narrow balcony itself emerging on the thin and shaky rusty catwalk that surrounded the upper part of the ship. Under it, the snowy ground seemed so far away, lost in the still going on snowstorm. It also seemed that they were staying still just above a frosted lake. On the wall on their left side, many harnesses were hung on some hooks, ready to be putted on to let workers walk on the risky skywalk.

"No thanks, I'll be fine without; I hate being tied up…" Cam snapped, waiting for her to pass the corner of the balcony wall to finally be able to see the so called gangplank.

In fact, she first told him that Teal'c the _Tackler_ and Jackson the _Mister Glasses_ were out there to repair some cooling vent, like poor slaves forced to do the annoying jobs onboard. Because they were barely watched by guards since they cannot escape without jumping off –which would be suicidal- Cam decided to get them first before fighting their way through the ship to find Sam and Vala. A little help from the two guys would be really welcome.

"As you wish." She simply answered as she was now getting on the thin hanging walkway.

This thing was even more dangerous because there wasn't any banister and only one person could walk on at the time since it was too slender for two. That was why they wore that body harness: on the side of the ship, there was a very long rope attached there where the workers could anchor the end of their harness and prevent them to definitively fall off.

When them turned that corner, the shivering and still in t-shirt outside in a snowstorm Cameron immediately saw his friends at the other end of the ship, working on some metal vent as some guards were closely watching them; he could identify the tall Jaffa even with the thick crappy black coat they lent to him. Smiling inwardly, he pushed Mayka forward and embarked on the catwalk, walking innocently toward his friends, half hidden behind the captain lady. The man was clearly limping to save his left leg, feeling the burning and stinging-like sensation at every step, biting his lips most of the time to hold a wince. On their way, they passed before many other balconies like the one they used to get out there and at every of them, Mitchell feared that one of Mayka's guard could be randomly looking by the thin window on the door at the end of those, see them and ring the alarm. But most of those doors seemed to be getting to empty rooms or to be closed tightly by the ice that stuck to the ship at some places. As they were halfway and still unnoticed, the colonel whispered to the woman –easily because he was just behind her and because she was 6 inches shorter than him- :

"You should call you pals over there and ask them to draw away and give their weapons to our dear hostages… That would be very nice from you." He said with humour yet knowing that this was risky and that the plan could still be screwed up.

"They'll never swallow that!" She whispered to him with a slightly fretful and disapproving tone.

"Never say never again…" Cam commented, referring to that old Bond movie.

Royer didn't answer, clenching her jaw with frustration. As she was going to wave and call the guards of her crew, the suddenly heard a squeaking sound and, by reflex, turned the head toward the origin of it. A man was standing by the doorway after having open the heavy door, wide-eying them: his Captain being dragged on the catwalk –that they use to call the Rusty Beaten Path of Killing Death- by the man he, himself, brought to the ship few days ago. And to Cam's point of view, he has been caught red-handed by surprise by the damned drunken idiot that threw him out of the snow-bike not so long ago… Without waiting any longer, Mitchell aimed the stupid punk with his dart gun and shot him right on place. However, because the colonel wasn't lucky at all, the dart didn't touch the other man's flesh: it rebounded on the glass bottle the stranger was carrying in his coat pocket with a clear clinking and fell pitifully on the ground in front of him. Eyes wide open, Cameron hurried up to aim once more the man, but when he pressed on the trigger, nothing came out as the dart gun was unloaded. At the same time, the drunken guy roared furiously and ran to Mitchell, willing to fight with him and Mayka got free from the colonel grip and step back to watch with horror.

Seeing the insane kidnapper rushing to him, the SG1 leader lifted the unloaded weapon and struck right on the other man's temple with the pistol grip. His opponent immediately lost consciousness and collapsed soundly on the juncture between the balcony and the catwalk, right in front of Cameron. Yet, by doing do, he shook the rusty catwalk and a deep metallic grating could be heard and alarmed the hell out of those that could hear it. Before he could even jump to the side –as if he could with his bad knee anyway- the section of the skywalk where Cam was standing half detached in a loud clang…

With horror, at the exact moment she heard the last metallic sound, Mayka ran the faster she could to the man and, seeing him falling with the walkway just before her eyes, she simply dived off to follow the man, like a free falling angel jumping to a certain death…

**To be continued!!! O.O''**


	9. Chapter 9

That was the fall of the torn but unconsciously lovesick captain, diving head first at a dizzying speed: there was that hand, stretched toward her… She had to catch back on it and to grab it: its owner could not just go, just die that horribly crushed on the hellish icy ground. She could not keep any memories if it ended this way, she could not keep on living after the sight of that military lying on this bed of ice and snow. The ground was coming too close too fast; she would not have enough time to get to him!

But just before the rope attached to the ship and to her harness tense and stop her fall, ruining her chances to get him, she felt the warm touch of the so desired hand. At this moment, led by despair and crazy hope, she clasped her two hands on the only one at her reach for now the tighter it was possible and pulled the harder she could so he'll be stopped as well by the merciful attach.

Dead stop. Frozen frame.

At the moment he could only think of how much he'll miss living and fighting, how stupid this ending was and how fast the ground was coming his way, Cameron felt the brutal shock in his complete body. But it wasn't the crash, but something that stopped him in the air violently, halfway to the icy lake, holding him by the right arm. The lady had tenses her muscles, knowing how hard the shock would be at this speed, but Cam didn't, not expecting to be saved this way; the brutal stop dislocated his shoulder under his weight for the split second the shock last, before taking back its right position with the elastic-like effect of his sinew. However, that was enough to injure him and to cause a striking pain. Mitchell cried out, trying frantically to stretch out his other arm to hold on whatever stopped his fall, in order to save his awfully aching shoulder, but he couldn't… In fact, he felt as he had no strength left in his right arm and the pain that was shot at every move, swings because of the wind and every beating of his heart made him wince and groan, nearly fainting because of the typical lowering of his blood pressure. He lifted his addled gaze to evaluate whatever held but injured him, instinctively wanting to reach for it for a way better grip, but couldn't believe his eyes.

"Y…you?!" He let out; jaw clenched to hold another groaning yet puzzled to realize that the mischievous looking captain saved his life in a way. His arm was shaking painfully and held by a quickly bruised up wrist; he was shivering as well due to the gruelling cold and the wind and snowstorm that were still trying to viciously shut him down.

"Can't you… help… yourself a little bit? You're …pretty heavy!" Mayka answered, clearly struggling to lift him and to keep her hands shut on his… but she was just a young woman and he was a fully grown-up and quite tall man…

"Trus…trust me I'm… _trying_!" He said, before throwing his head back and crying out from the stabbing and burning pain. He panted, trying to catch his breath that have been paralysed by the too great suffering in his shoulder when the wind made him rock at the end of the link and pulled even harder on his arm. Once more, he was desperately trying to reach for Mayka's forearms with his able hand, but in vain.

"Colonel Mitchell" A deep and familiar voice shouted from above on the catwalk: it was Teal'c, he saw everything and he had rushed from the other side of the ship to help, quickly beating up the few guards and had run the faster he could. He was leaning over the hole in the path; concerned looking at his friend hanged in a risky position, maybe closer to the ground, but still high enough to end his fall deadly…

"Big T!..." Cam exclaimed, then winced and groaned. "Can… can you… pull us up, please!" He kept on, clearly unable to stay like this for too long. Mayka was also showing alarming signs that it was too much for her to handle and that her hands were getting slipping.

"You have to be hold securely first!" The Jaffa warned, before doing something quite unexpected: he attached his harness too on the security rope before jumping off.

"No, Teal'c!!!" Is what they could hear: Jackson had just reached the hole in the catwalk in time to see with horror his friend jumping after the two others.

But the tall man had already reached the two other, huffing when he stopped brutally and felt the harness squeeze him a little bit with the shock. He rocked too and nearly crashed in Mayka and Cam, that, them, were wide eying him, surprised by this attempt to help them. Three people hanged by only some thin ropes under a giant ship, unnoticed in the middle of a raging snowstorm… that was impressive….

"What are you doing?! You had to help us out of there, not to join us!!" Mayka let out hysterically to the Jaffa.

"You would have drop Colonel Mitchell before you would have reached the footbridge." He answered severely, now trying to get hold of the able hand of the SG1 leader that was thrusting it out.

"I… I can handle this, I know what to do: I'm the one in command of the ship!"

She shouted with anger, trying to find a way to get a better hold of the handsome man that was dependently hanging under her. As Teal'c was reaching for the arm she was holding, she turned on herself, interfering between the two men; she was going to save him, not this other man!

"Owww damn…Hey, Royer, thanks for saving my life but, please, let him take care of it: he's way more competent…" Cam pleased, trying to reason her up while his mind was still clear enough to think. But he felt his hand slowly sliding out of her grip in a really alarming way: with a more pressing and nervous tone, he added: "Come on! That's not fun anymore!"

But the woman was stubborn and Teal'c could not help the poor colonel since she was blocking him. Mayka yet caught a sight of the radio she still has on her red belt: maybe she could call for help… With a strike with her jaw on the device, she activated it and commanded:

"Royer to the command room: we need to land, quickly!"

But there was no answer on the radio, a creepy silence until they all heard a squeaking coming from the giant ship. Then a maw opened under the vehicle and -that surprised them all a lot- tree snow-bikes fell through it as if somebody pushed them overboard before passing them hanging group and crashing on the ground in a loud noise, breaking the ice.

"You dirty fuckin' idiots!!! That's not what I said! And would you answer once for all, you bunch of incompetent buggers!!!" Mayka shouted madly at the radio once the short surprised silence ended.

But, distracted by her anger, she didn't realized to she was beginning to let go… And before the men could do anything, she loosened unconsciously her grip; letting Mitchell to a dreadful fall as Jackson and Teal'c were calling his name, shocked by this awful sight.

* * *

**((oh, there comes the teaser ;) ))**

Like diving in Death itself, crashing in the covered mirror of ice that was naturally hold to stop his fall, but that didn't succeed to keep the man from touching the freezing water. The impact has been hard to the base of his ribs, where they attach to the vertebras; his head knocked enough to blind him on the moment and it felt like pain was shot in his body instead of blood. But it was not over; right on the moment, the thin layer of solid water broke and opened the abyss… It was cold, so cold it felt like thousands of needles and knifes and blades were trying to tear him apart, to annihilate what was left of his being, a punch straight to the midsection along with an uppercut under his jaw, a hook to his ears, one to his throat and so long … And then it burned, quickly because of that killing temperature, his lungs were on fire by the inside, tearing, except the flames would never drill trough his chest to let air coming in somehow. The world was twirling, the man was suffocating and paralysed by the so sudden cold, eyes wide opened but burning as well. His mind screamed for air, for heat, for life… he had to fight his way up to the surface before going too far and pitifully drowning in that hella lake. To die so far still so near people he cared about and wanted to save, lost in a mischievous land of snow, trapped in a visceral fear… He managed to get free from his torturers only to keep sapping his own life away as painfully. Panic overtook the man as he tried to swim in vain; one of his muscular arms wouldn't move, like a bird with a broken wing, one of his leg was weakened by his injured knee. He nearly cried out from the pain; trying to move and to fight the water so stabbing, but he was as helpless as a double-jointed doll, muted by this water that threatened to flood his lungs to death. Drowning in pain, fear and cold itself, everything went creepily black… Cameron rolled and closed his azure eyes and locked up the anguish it held…

* * *

They were horrified: the man they all cared about, even the foolish captain, just disappeared in the broken ice, now drowning in the freezing water if he wasn't already gone…

"Daniel Jackson! Attach my harness to hers, I have to come down!" Teal'c shouted to him, being the first to react. He wasn't ready to give up on his friend and to stay waiting and hanged there.

"What?!! What are you going to try?! Teal'c?!" Daniel asked loud, really concerned and nervous.

"Do as I said, I am willing to risk the try." The Jaffa answered with a tone meaning that no one could argue with him.

The tall man rock a little bit more to get closer to the lady and to grab the rope attached on her harness: he would hold until Daniel was done. She didn't react to that, her eyes set on the horrible hole in the ice and on the dark and deadly water in it: she just killed the man she wanted more than everything else in her world! Up on the catwalk, Jackson finally agreed to do what he has been asked: he untied Teal'c's security rope and attached the ring on the end on Mayka's one. The Jaffa then let go her link and his own one slid all the way down on the Royer's harness, letting Teal'c falling down at tremendous speed. The two harnesses together had to be tough to support their weight when the shock would come… it had to be long enough to allow the Jaffa to get on the ground easily, but still short enough to keep him from simply crashing on the ice as well… Now that he was in a nearly free-fall, he couldn't back off.

* * *

So because darkness won over him as he was slowly suffocating and dying in that cold, Cam didn't see the dark and odd shape passing just beside him in the water. Yes, the creature followed, the creature had to protect its prey if it wanted to survive and keep on feeding of his blood… water was not worst than sticking to ships in space or getting through the event horizon of gates: the thing wasn't _alive_ if we refer to the real definition. When the Letelk creature felt the particles of this one man as he traveled in space, it decided to take it as its victim and modified their destination only by interfering with the normal way of the wormhole as this animal always does. The creature dived as well in the water and pursued the drowning man but catch back on him not until he lost consciousness. Once again, the thing would have to wait for him to awake to feed and it was quite alarming it: what if its prey never waked up this time? Of course it was too primitive to even think, but it still had survival instinct: the creature came to a new option, a little bit risky for it but the results would be advantageous. So the unshaped creature of pebbles went through the water to the dying colonel, grabbed him and brought him to the nearest exit of the deadly freezing trap. In fact, one had just been holed a little bit further from the point its prey fell: the monster quickly drag him to it and got out of the water, being unnoticed by the other living creature hanged at the end of those wires. Its future kill wasn't breathing anymore and its so salutary pulse was nearly flat; and this human was cold to the touch as well, probably not made to survive in those heatless conditions. So once more, the blue creature stretched what seemed like an arm toward the body of the man that was lying on the ice, the water wetting him already beginning to freeze as well. The Letelk stones activated and reanimated the dying heart, sending as well an adrenaline rush in his body to wake him up. It leaved the healing of the wound gotten in the crash part to another step that was coming… something more radical…

There was the deal: this kind of monster can modify its own shape by moving the thousands of particles that compose it and can even get separated shortly from some of its parts before reuniting. However, if the part separated for a too great distance, the Letelk wouldn't be able to attach back on it, even if the curative power still works. In addition, this monster isn't able to multiply those stones; from the moment this thing springs, the amount of particles can not grows but can only lessen. And right now there was a problem: its prey kept on being awfully threatened and it was a thing the animal couldn't allow. So it had to help the prey healing at every time he was in deep trouble without having to always touch it and risk to be discovered by the other humans. So it would have to give to him a part of itself, no matter what if it would weaken the creature…

* * *

This time, Mitchell would had prefer to never wake up: it was simple, he felt as his entire body was crushed under tons of needles of ice, unable to determine which part of his being was hurting the most under the numbness. He wasn't able to think, unable to move as well and had stopped shivering for a while at this severe stage of hypothermia and because of the concussion. Then the nightmares came back when he heard the subtle hissing –that was in reality the sound of the energy field holding the worst monster together- just over him. His mind cried for it to be only his imagination doing that very bad trick, but when he fought to open at the most half of his eyelid and see the blue mass, he knew it was over. Couldn't this thing just let him down in that water, his foggy and ill mind thought… That wasn't quite him; Cam never gives up, but things were so wrong right now, and it was getting worst: he barely felt the cold touch of the stones on his skin and it took him some seconds before realizing the monster was lifting his frost-hardening black t-shirt. He completely shot open his eyes with daze just to see the blue thing move back a very pointy looking limb at drove it in high speed toward the man.

When the spike stroke the colonel, he immediately convulsed violently; his body arched as if jolted by electricity as the blow landed right in his chest, his mouth gaping with a gasp as his was left speechless and breathless, his eyes wide opened and his face clearly showing that so enormous horror, dread and astonishment that it overthrown the utter suffering. The thick liquid immediately began to flood his airways and his mouth as he couldn't stop hiccupping and quivering and choking, all the air out of his lungs and unable to get in because all the muscles in his ribcage were paralysed… and the man had that look in his eyes, wide opened and not blinking, wild as the silent scream of distress that it held, wild like the eyes of the fish left to die out of the water…

He could feel it through him, the painful and ghastly slide of the stone weapon and the burning following it. That was it: the Letelk creature drove this spike from one side to the other, impaling the colonel at 5 centimetres (1.97 inches) at the right of his heart, through his pectoral muscles, between two ribs, through his lungs, between two other ribs, through the muscles of his back… When he felt that the thing was slightly lifting the weakly convulsing upper part of his body, still too overwhelmed by shock and horror to even think, he clasped the hand of his capable arm on the pointy limb of the horrible fiend in a faint attempt to fight. He couldn't scream, he couldn't do anything but being stunned and he felt something against his back, around the spot were the pointy blue edge came out and let out his flowing blood. The Letelk monster _stepped_ back, detaching itself from the point impaling Mitchell, setting his shirt right to cover his mischievous work and letting him slip back to the icy ground: the two side of the spike sticking out slowly took a flat shape adjusted to the man's chest, now taking the shape of a thin dumbbell blocking a hole of a diameter of 4 centimetres (1.57 inches) –like the handle- and ended by a larger piece of 6 centimetres (2.36 inches) of diameter –like the weight-. Everything was getting darker for the poor tortured human and he was going to faint.

But at this moment, the parts of the Letelk stopped from being animated and became as hard and motionless as the stone Jackson had in his office. At the same time, its power finally started: Mitchell was shot out of his fainting by the burning sensation the healing always brought, feeling like the spike was now on fire and that flames were blazing his back, his torso, his shoulder, his legs and even his head. He managed to draw air to his flaming lungs, wincing, half curling to his side and shaking, only to cry out his anger and his suffering. That thing was disgusting him, he could feel how could it was and the creepy rolling of the tiny particles when the foreign body expended as he was filling his lungs; the shit he now had from one side to the other in his chest and way too close to the guts was absolutely repulsive. He clasped his hands over his shirt, clawing the round piece of it that stuck out of his skin in a vain attempt to take it off. He bit his tongue to blood when he held frustrated and pain growls and swearing, he caught out some more blood coming from his pierced lungs. In fact, the stones were healing him and closing the bleeding gaps, but it could not just get rid of the foreign body that was deeply embedded in his body… It could only heal around it and leave the insides sliding on the spike.

After what seemed to be an eternity of burning in this internal hell, he heard some distant and surprise shouting as his friends discovered him further on the ice and began to call his name. Jackson seemed to be still on the catwalk, but Teal'c seemed to be hanging at the end of a strange shaped wire, his feet _brushing_ the ice as his fall could have been his very last move and now breaking free from the harness. They made it, _them_... Breathing heavily, realizing that he was way too quickly out of breath with this thing through his right lung, he opened his eyes to recognize the fact that the thousand times damned creature had flew before being seen by anybody else. He slowly turned to his back, absolutely downcast and defeated, feeling like the soldier captured by his enemies that would had just found out that his own country lost the war he gave all he had to win it. He listened to the deafening wheezing of his laboured breathing, still faintly shivering, his eyes glazing the huge starship over him that would had hide the sun if it wasn't already of the heavy clouds.

**To be continued… (Darn it, wasn't it a little bit too cruel?)**


	10. Chapter 10

Things were going on too fast for him: he would had stayed this way forever, lying on the back, distractedly watching the giant vehicle over him, breathing slowly as he was going to fall asleep and trying faintly to get rid of the demonic blue spike drove through his chest in a so nightmare-like way that he still had hard time believing it. But his team was still in danger and the extremely cold weather after a little swim in nearly freezing water wouldn't allow him to stay motionless like this for too long…yet hypothermia was always driving the victims sleepy. Cameron felt the stabbing feeling of that damned locked spike every time he would fill his lungs then breathe out and, in addition, the continuous healing was actually dizzying, stunning and was doing something on his mood; just as this thing was slowly getting rid of his will to fight.

"Colonel Mitchell! Are you well?" A deep voice said with concern at his side; as a tall silhouette was approaching in a jogging.

"Teal'c." Cam began, sounding more like an expecting statement, but with something confuse in his tone.

At this moment, something came to his mind: if he announced to every of his friends that he was still impaled with some alien bones; they would be so worried that they would lose their concentration on their _work_ and will only harass him to make sure he won't fight but only spare himself and get some rest. If that happen, he would be very useless, would be a dead weight and would endangered the complete SG1 team and their escape. Cameron couldn't allow that at all and anymore. The colonel turned his head toward his friend: none of them had fetters, the guards outside the ship were all _out of order_ and the ship was motionless… Cam had to pull himself together, fight his faintness and act like the leader he use to be, even if he had to lie until they'll be back at SGC.

"Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts… yeah I'm fine, thanks big fella. And thanks for… well… risking your life in that wicked bungee jump 15 minutes ago." Cameron said, taking hold of the hand the Jaffa was holding out to help him getting up.

"I have failed to rescue you." Teal'c answered, slightly sullenly. He had to pull up the colonel that seemed a little bit too shaken to stand up steadily all by himself.

"Hey, come on; you're too hard on yourself, 't wasn't your fault at all and you did great…" Cam sympathized with a slight comforting grin. Once on his feet, Mitchell was hiding the best he could his vertigo and his shortness of breath, causing him to stay stunned and staring blankly for a second or two.

"Mitchell? Is it the Letelk that healed you after your fall?" The Jaffa asked, noticing the incredibly pale look and the alarming wheezing of his lt. colonel, but also realizing that he didn't seem affected by his injured shoulder and knee or any new damages after hitting the ice that hard.

"Yep… but I really hate to admit it…"Cam began gloomily as well, before changing the subject while looking at the two roped attached together: one was linked to the ship and ended on the hanging Mayka and the other was attached to the first and ended by the Teal'c harness, only less than 2 meters (6.56 feet) over the ground. "Now we gotta find a way back to the top; we're not done yet."

"Indeed." Acknowledged simply the Jaffa, in his so typical way.

* * *

"The restorative power of the creature is simply amazing! But why does it have to be that hostile? It's kind of disappointing thinking of what we could do with such a gift..." Daniel said to the three that came back on the catwalk, mostly talking to Mitchell actually.

He managed to find a hoist near the entrance door and to lift Mitchell and Teal'c once they were readied at the very end of the link, unfortunately dragging up the woman at the same time. Mayka was still too shocked and shameful to harm them in any way for now: she was just staring at the snowy horizon, dodging their look by turning her face the opposite way when one of the men looked for her. And of course she was not talking at all.

"But none of you guys saw it, right?" Asked the frowning Cam, yet already knowing their answers, while being helped by Teal'c to get rid of the harness they attached to themselves. Without waiting for the answer after all, feeling them hesitating and then knowing it would be a "no", he kept on: "Anyway… now we grab our Miss Moody Captain M and move in the ship to get Sam and Vala: as long as we aren't crept up on our sides like what happened, we can walk freely only by threatening her with the tip of a gun…" On this, he was already moving in her back and looked for another weapon than the dart gun that he probably dropped in his fall.

"I doubt that will work…" A voice said loud in their back, a shifty and crafty one that could easily send shiver down your spine. It was another team of armed French Canadians grinning evilly, heavily armed and dressed with bright red punky clothes instead of their usual ones.

"How many doors are leading bad guys to the catwalk again anyway…" Muttered Cam with frustration, slowly turning around to face the enemies. Seeing the team and their new look, he knew that something was going on after all within the crew; slightly teasing but still concerned, Cam asked while staring at them and frowning : "'kay, you're in your right to doubt, but what makes you think that won't work after all?"

"Simply because we don't care about her well-being anymore… It's the Revolution!!!! We're taking her down before she destroys us!" Roared another guard, immediately supported by the loud cheers of the others dressed in red, raising their fist and their weapons as well and shouting some French watchwords.

"Gosh…the plan Vala and I set up worked perfectly!" Whispered Jackson with astonishment to Mitchell and Teal'c –that were also amazed -.

"You mean that you manipulated them to…" Began Mitchell in a low voice as well, not needing to say more when he saw the look on Daniel's face. "Great idea Jackson!" He added with pleased surprise.

"But, just to warn all of you, we planned keeping the hostages and completing the trade with the Army as it should be… So do not expect us to free you!" Interrupted a woman within the guards dressed in red. So it seemed there wasn't any leader in those small divisions and they were easier to recognize since they wore bright colors in a ship painted in grey and black…

"So we keep our first plan: fight the crew to flee away, whoever the captain is?…" Daniel asked to Cam, whispering. To that, the colonel answered with a helpless shrug, already thinking of something that could work.

"You bunch of dirty traitor of hell!!! Who's the asshole that started all this?!!" Mayka roared, coming out of her sheepish silent now that she realised what was going on. "Tell me 'cause I know you're too stupid to do anything like that!" She added, walking toward the rebels with a killer look and the fists clenched.

However, surprised by this outburst, the red dressed guards aimed their guns at her and she stopped on place, staring at them and breathing deeply, clearly angry. Then they began to insult each other and to argue violently, but not in English at all. Cam, Jackson and Teal'c glared at each other, knowing the time was right to try something in fact. And Mitchell had a plan: he just saw the knocked off body of the drunken man that nearly killed him twice since they were on this foreign Earth… the man still had many weapons attached to his belt that he didn't use before since he was an idiot. Mitchell only had to find a way to get closer and to lower himself to grab the objects since the body was really close without being too close of the hole left by the fallen piece of the catwalk. But the rebels could still catch a shot of what he would be trying and that was the problem. It was when another wave of dizziness stroked him that he had the idea… Cam gave a look at his friend, telling with no words to simply follow his play, that he had a plan. The others, used to that kind of action, subtlety nodded in acknowledgement, hiding the best they could a content smile.

With a muffled groan, Cam dropped to his knees, and then collapsed flat on the metal floor, on the stomach and face on the side. He tried to ignore the pain it caused when the round edge of the Letelk spike through his chest knocked on the floor and shook up to his back: he had to look unconscious… Before the guards and Mayka turned toward him to check out what was going on in their back, the colonel subtlety stretched his hands to grab handguns for Teal'c, Daniel and him and kept them hidden the best he could. And before the enemies could notice what he was holding, the Jaffa and Jackson rushed to their leader and helped him to get back up to his feet, each of them on one of Cam's sides, holding his arm to do so. In a perfect synchronisation and still acting as he was nearly fainting, Cameron slid a weapon in the sleeve of their winter coat and hanged one on his belt in his back without being noticed; the pirates eyed them angrily, probably irritated by this interruption, before turning back to their little arguing in French. It worked wonderfully: they were lucky those people preferred fighting each other than watch their hostages…

Cameron took back his normal carriage –or at least the best he could do with his vertigo and his burning lungs- and hand signalled his two friends, silently readying their weapon. The second after, they got cover on the balcony just beside them and, crouched behind the low wall so only their handguns would stick out, they surprised thoroughly the rebels and killed them down with nearly no gun shot back at them. Few minutes after, they had shot down all their enemies that were carrying a gun, leaving a startled Royer standing alone near a pile of a few bodies. She wide eyed them with the mouth gaped and with disbelieve, shocked by how effective and deadly the three men were, thinking that her end was coming. Yet, something she didn't expect happened: the good looking leader slowly stood from behind their hiding place, a very determined look on his face and lowering his pistol.

"Royer… There's still something you can do: they're rebelling, they won't listen to you anymore… Just give up on your kidnapper job for once and help us out of here…" Cam asked seriously, hoping she would listen to him.

"Ha! You idiot! Don't even count on that: you can kill me on place; I'll never give up on keeping you and others as hostages… And it's not because a few of them are trying to overthrow me that it means the loyalty of my entire crew is weakened so screw off!" She answered with a sardonic and stubborn tone, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Fine, talk about a sensible way of thinkin', Miss Moody M…" Cam grumbled with sarcasm to Teal'c and Daniel that were now standing up as well, before trying something else: "Whatever… I'm sure there's something else you could give a try then: you know the nice critter I complained about… the one I said it could terminate your men? Well the fact that I'm still on my feet to kick the ass of your pals over there is the proof the thing _is_ prowlin' around and probably already aboard. Find it… that's all. We'll let you go without harm if you say you can even just spot it on your radar or any of your security thingies." He looked sincere and ready to do so, maybe even pleading.

The captain frowned at his, her eyes squinting and scheming as she was looking for any ambush or anything like this, staying silent for a few seconds. In his back, Cam heard Teal'c and Daniel approaching as they were eager to know if it their leader is doing the right thing. But Mayka couldn't, in fact, explain how did the so appealing man survived to the fall and to icy water; maybe he was shivering, pale with really slightly blue lips and looked a little bit worn out and maybe garbled sometime, but he was still walking and dangerous… Yet she was beginning to believe him and knew there wasn't many option left right now than obeying.

"What should I look for then?" She asked abruptly, as the surrender was very unpleasing.

"Any kind of unusual motion. Plus the alien's crawling and very cold blooded since it isn't alive…" Mitchell began, a little bit cheered to see the woman was accepting.

"Fine…" She interrupted hastily before bending down to grab the gun of one of the rebels and to leave by the door they took in jogging, not listening anymore to Cam.

She left so suddenly that the men stayed somewhat transfixed for a few seconds as well, they were looking at the spot where she stood not so long ago. Then Jackson expressed his concerns to Mitchell:

"You think it's wise to let her go with a gun and knowing we escaped? What if she just gets some reinforcement to hunt us down then?"

"She won't." Mitchell answered seriously, not looking at his friend but at the door with a thoughtful look while reloading his weapon.

"Wand what makes you sure of that?" Jackson asked.

"B'cause she knows she owns us one after we saved her from the angry mob, she still feels guilty for dumping me in a way… and she's just a kid: give her a chance…" Mitchell answered gravely with a vaguely uncomfortable smile. To that, the others didn't argue in any way: he seemed to trust her and to be really confident with it… they know their lt. colonel: he had a good sense of intuition most of the time.

* * *

Cameron felt a pinch in the heart only by setting his pure blue eyes on the alien and repelling thing that was now part of his body. It was worst than knowing a foreign body was still in a cut since this Letelk piece of crap was a loss against the monster, a disgusting parasite. He only wanted to tear it off right now, with any tool he could find, to throw away and far away the thing, the part of the so hated bloodsucking vicious monster. It was sickening, maybe as much as those alarming vertigos and the really too short breath that slowed him down. Mitchell tore his look away from this spike and the thin trickle of blood coming from under the stopper of it, lowering the bottom of his shirt he lifted to check on the foreign object. In fact, he and his two friends decided to separate and to look for the women of their team each in their own direction: it would be quicker and, alone more than in a group, it would be harder to detect them. They had a meeting point and the schedule for that next gathering, they had weapons and a great rebellion as a smoke screen. Mitchell had took his own way and realized that he could probably encounter large groups of their captors: with his green battle uniform, he would be really easy to target. So he broke into an empty room, grabbed some better and bigger guns and found some clothes to wear to be unnoticed…

He tried on some black army pants quite similar to those he wore sometime to the missions, got a dry and warmer black t-shirt and putted on a kind of black leather coat he founded. At least Cam now looked a lot more like the Canadian crew and it was well enough for sneaking unseen around in the ship. The colonel was still weakened by the unforeseen effects of the Letelk thing he hated so much and by the state of hypothermia he was in, but he tried for a jogging, hoping finding Vala or Sam would not be too hard. In a ship corridor, he thought his little exploring would be over when two men and a woman ran toward him, but it was a relief when they passed by him without taking care of the colonel: there was something more important going on and dragging their attention and armed force and it was bigger than the little group dressed in red Cam met outside…

Yet that place was like a maze: a lot of corridors were blocked by some pieces of furniture and junks, a lot of light bulbs were out so some rooms were totally dark, some walls were pierced open and every sign or evacuation map were vandalized: it could look like one of those bad zombie movie in a devastated area… And it was taking longer than he thought to find anything but some rushed guards dressed in black that wouldn't take care of him. He had stopped jogging for a while: his breathing was way too laboured with the thing across his lungs and the more he tried to take some deep breath, the more aching and alarming it was getting; it would painfully shred his skin and muscles around the spike and the healing power would then burn his chest as hell to repair that… And there was those so annoying seizures of giddiness that plagued him and stunned him in a displeasing way. So he was trying to walk the faster he could without winding himself, the hand clasped on the end of the spike, impatient to ask Dr Lam to cut it off once for all…

At some point, Cameron could hear some distant gunshots that were announcing some fights. At first he was worrying for his friends until he realised that how it sounded made it clear that there wasn't one or two people fighting many enemies, but some large groups shooting at each other: was it the rebellion that grew up? And later, he passed in front of a passageway he hasn't noticed because of all the junk across it without looking in it, something he would regret then… At the moment he erupted, three loud, deafening and sharp backfires sounded just beside Cam with some slight flashes of light and without delay, he received the three bullets in his side in an utterly stabbing and cold pain, stunned and shocked by the immediate aching and impact… but also by the instinctive dread of dying… They got him…Mitchell collapsed to his knees with the arms clutching tightly on his profusely bleeding side before falling to his side and curling a little bit because of the pain… He turned his head, his sight and his mind quickly filled with cobwebs, vaguely seeing the dark feminine shape rushing to him… She?!... Why her?!...

**To be continued!**

**------**

**Author note: First of all Happy New Year to every of you, o dear readers that take the time to get through my texts. I am kind of quite happy to find so many people doing so even if it is my very first fiction. For that, I thank you all a lot. **

**I am as well sorry if there is some traits of the SG1 team that I didn't portrayed too well, if the fictive characters are not that good and/or original, if the cliff-hangers are just too unfair :P (but don't you worry: there is not major character death...) and if my english sucks sometime. More to come very soon, we'll see that Cam is still a hero after all his misfortunes :) **


	11. Chapter 11

But before her hand touched his shivering back with concern and before her voice told him how she felt about those three shots, the Letelk spike through the man's chest activated its hellish burning; he could already feel the fire getting down to his side, hurting even more than the deadly bullets whatever if it was closing his wounds. It was like a smouldering piece of iron was sliding in the gaps left by the gunshots to close it, it felt like an eternity of agony…

"Oh dear what have-I done?! Mitchell!! Please Mitchell!! I'm so sorry; I thought you were one of those rowdies!!" The woman exclaim with visible remorse and anxiety, bending down on Cam and trying to take a look at the wounds in a nearly hysterical way.

"Damn it…" Grunted Cam as the pain was slowly getting away but as the gaps were now closed and not bleeding anymore. These words showing that he wasn't able to hold the pain any longer on the moment. Still his shirt was wet by the thick crimson liquid but, fortunately, its dark color made it hard to distinguish the red of the haemoglobin. "V…Vala… why… can't you be _careful_ when… you should?!" He managed to growl with frustration, brokenly and raucously, panting as he was trying to catch back his breath without hurting even more his lungs, his raw muscles and his ribs, labouredly and shakily rolling to his knees and hands.

Cam tried to hold the shivers that sore his muscles in the long run but that wasn't too easy… He faintly pushed her back as she was trying to set him down back to the floor to take care of him, groaning slightly as he was striving to finally get back on his feet. The woman helped him a little bit to stand still –his dizziness was getting even worst and he felt like being asthmatic and slowly suffocating- but once again he broke free from her worried hold; his self-pride had taken a gruelling shot as well…

"Oh I'm sorry Mitchell, believe me I could not know it was you! I'll never forgive myself for doing such a thing, really; I beg your pardon!!" She kept on with a desperately sorry look on her face; while she held him by circling his chest with her arm as he nearly stumbled to the floor. How good it felt to _hug_ such a hefty man… but it wasn't her concern right now: "Are you well?" She then tried sheepishly after a short nervous laughter.

"Yeah… yeah I'm… _fine_." Cam answered with an irritated but exhausted tone, breaking free from Vala's hold once more and getting steadier enough to stand at last. He knew that if she learned about the foreign object impaling him, she would go really insane from worrying… and he just felt too grumpy to let her be concerned about him and to treat him as a child right now.

"But I shot you down…" Vala began with a slight suspicious and disbelieving tone, staring at him and inspecting him from his mesmerizing blue eyes to his army boots.

"I'm wearin' one of their bullet-proof vests." He lied, shrugging with detachment before subtly adjusting the stolen leather jacket: if she had taken a closer look, it would have been obvious that he wasn't wearing that kind of shielding and that sure was odd to realize he took gunshots without any difficulty… How worn out he felt! He hardly believed he was still able to pretend to be fine…

"Oh… that's better." Vala let out, kind of ashamed, acting with a fake disinterest as well: she had one of the worst fears of her life when she thought she killed her colonel!

It may be even worst than that time she punched him in the face, but now Cam wasn't feeling like reprimanding her and blaming her: there was still this disheartening and draining effect caused by the alien spike… At this moment, Cameron noticed that she was wearing some nearly trash-looking black coquettish clothes just as some female from the crew were bearing: a really short dark skirt, some worn out pantyhose, high boots with thick heels, a black tank top and a black leather jacket decorated with a few grey graffiti… and of course a studded belt with a gun sheath hanged on it; the weapon was of course in Vala's hand. He blinked a little bit with shock, not expecting to meet her dressed that way as he was going to find her and free her from the guards.

"You just… changed your…" Mitchell began with bewilderment and tilting his head slightly to the side, raising a little the forefinger as he hesitated to point at her.

"Um yeah I thought that… it may be a good camouflage since all the women aboard seem to be coming out of one of those music videos at TV where they play that hardcore music… I managed to steal some garnishments when I escaped: those pirates are not watching us anymore!" Vala answered to his mute question as she caught the wondering look on Cam's face. "But I see that you had the same idea, Mitchell." She added teasingly, nodding to what he was wearing himself.

" 'kay, right, so we're the perfect pairin'… How about rockin' the place now? " Cam humoured her now that he was getting back from this surprise. "We only have to find Sam, to meet Jackson and Teal'c on the catwalk at 0230 and to get the hell out of here!" He added.

"Oh: Carter is at the infirmary right now." Vala said lightly, without showing any unease.

"What?! What happened, what's with her?!" Cam asked, worrying.

"She's alright: it was our plan to escape we made when they came for the guys and putted us in the same cell… We acted like we were not well at all so they would move us to an easier place to break out, but it worked only with her." She answered nearly cheerfully, amused to see the apprehension in the man's eyes. That was cute from him…

"I hate this place…" He muttered, all the bad memories about the sickbay coming back to his mind. "And am-I the only one that escaped with bare luck?" He added, a little bit complaining. The Vala's amused look still on him wasn't helping either so Cameron decided it was time to get back to their main goal and keep going in those corridors. At least, they now had a clear place to go: that so called infirmary where remained a non-competent physician.

"We're moving now. I know exactly where she might be, but we have to be alert with all those armed jerks lurkin' around…" The SG1 leader said, and waited for her approval nod before leaving and going for a light jog, followed by Mal Doran in her stolen elicit clothing.

* * *

"Another breather?! But we just had one few minutes ago! We'll never be able to go anywhere or to catch on the others if you keep slowing us down this way!" Vala said with a nearly offended but surely disbelieving tone as she was coming back toward the man: she hasn't noticed he had stopped once more somewhere after her.

But she knew after all that it wasn't about spoiled and lazy manners that would stop the man from keeping up on her: it was only the way he looked since they began their jogging and on this very moment that were telling her so... Mitchell was standing up faintly, his back leaned on the metal wall and his hands on his laps, and his head dropping backward and leaning on the wall as well; he blinked and stared blankly, his mouth half opened. Cam was not only dizzy due to the lack of oxygen; there was the feeling that his throat was swelling to stop all air from coming in, that some kind of metal ring was circling his entire torso to suffocate him and that his lungs were as dry as sand and as burning as hell. The raspy wheezing coming out of his own chest was by itself kind of scary, but was nothing compared to the feeling of the bullets still in his side, stuck in his muscles and entrails, slightly moving and weighting at every step he made and followed by the burning of the Letelk healing… He had to concentrate on breathing, even if he felt as his lungs were not large enough for the amount of air he used to drag in, all that because of the freaking alien spike! And how could he run if he couldn't oxygenate himself?!

"What is going on with you? You use to beat me every time it comes to marathons…" Vala kept on when she realised Mitch wouldn't answer before a few minutes; she doubted something was wrong and was growing concerned… but at the same time irritated that he was hiding that important health troubles to her. What if those breathing problems jeopardized the entire SG1 team and their respective plans for escaping? And why couldn't he stop playing at Superman or at the ultimate hero and denying every injury he got? Was his ego that important? Were all the military men that pointlessly obstinate? She wasn't able to understand Cam on that…

Cameron knew they were close when he vaguely recognised the corridor just in front of him, but right now he felt too winded to waste his breath to talk and answer something to the woman now beside him. Though he had to make sure she would not worry too much when there was more important going on. If they kept going, they would end up soon on a part of the ship where the passage is shaped as a "T"; on their right, there would be a dead end leading to a blocking collapsed part of the ship and on their left, there would be the way to Sam…

"Tired…I… They sur'ly gave me… somethin'" Cam answered and lied, trying to speak with a confident tone between two wheezing. He pushed himself entirely up to prove he was fine, but the vertigo stroke again and he went even paler.

As Vala was going to chide him for being that careless and stubborn, two guards bolt from the blue right in front of them, coming from the corridor leading to a dead end –so it wasn't one after all, there must be a secret passage through the collapsed pile of junk- Both the guards and the two SG1 were pretty surprised and the eyes wide opened, each of those pair having the reflex to point their gun at the other, without shooting yet; only aiming their enemies tensely. Vala and Cam with small handguns, the two rebels with huge alien weapons…

"Hey, they're in black: they're with the bitch Royer!!" Exclaimed one of the guards, both of them dressed in fact in red; they were rebels…

"Whoa whoa whoa wait! That's only a mistake: we simply dressed in black to confuse them and sneak on them, we're not actually with Royer!" Mitchell lied immediately, concerned about fooling them to prevent the guard from shooting at them. After all, Vala and he had nowhere to get cover if they began the gunfight… And staying there on place to fire at each other was purely suicidal.

"… Fine, then you'll know who's the most dim-witted and hated Canadian fellow…" The other rebel decided to test them with this kind of question, clearly suspicious and not lowering his gun.

"That geek doctor… uh… is it Mc Kay?..." Tried Vala, not seeming too convinced by her own answer.

"That's what I was goin' to say" Cam whispered to her, grinning at the silliness of the moment but unfortunately knowing they failed since the rebel asked the question they had no mean to answer to.

"Wrong, it is the _stupid Captain_ Royer! If you don't know that then you never went to any of our secret briefings!" The other guard replied with anger, furiously eying the woman and the pale colonel.

At this moment, Mitchell knew he had to react; they were trapped, they had been discovered… and he could do it… Before the rebels could do so, Cam opened fire on them, using his unarmed hand to immediately drag Vala behind him to shield her with his own being. One of them collapsed immediately, but the second had enough time to fire at the two SG1 members before dying as well under Cam's bullets. It was like the time froze for the slit second; the blast –looking a little bit like those coming from Jaffa staffs- was coming their way, Mitchell knew he could take it if he had to since the alien spike through him could heal him and he raised one arm to protect his face from the shot going straight to his head. The blast awfully burned his skin and muscle, he was slightly shovelled back by the strength of the impact and he cried out at the same time the rebel fell to the floor. All this happened so quickly: when Vala finally realised what just happened, -she had been pushed back a little as well when Cam backed up on her- Mitchell was squeezing his injured forearm between his chest and his other arm to stop in vain the hurting, half bent, wincing and letting out a pained groan and the two enemies were dead on the ground. She immediately froze with panic, thinking that he had been shot in the torso once more because of the way he was clutching his arms on it. But then she noticed the light puff of smoke coming out of the man's limb by the sleeve of the leather jacket as a ghastly smell of burnt skin reached her.

"Why did you do this??!!!" Vala asked hysterically, eyes wide open with horror, trying to reach for the man's injured arm to take a look at it.

"Goddamned… Vala, shut it up a little bit: I knew what I was doing!"

Cam groaned with his clenched jaw, wincing from the awful pain and a little bit by the alarming feeling it caused; the weapon was stronger than he thought and he had a deep burned hole to the bone in his shaking limb…Breathing heavily and fighting the dizziness such a wound cause, he slightly turned his back on Vala to make sure she would not catch the disgusting sight of his burned and aching forearm, hoping it would heal soon. It began: this suffering and the flaming even worst that Cam thought for a second he would faint under the stabbing pain, biting his tongue to not cry out and tightly closing his eyes to not see his burned flesh swelling back from its carbonised look to its normal form. When the healing stopped, leaving his forearm cured but sore and filled with spasm, Mitchell could finally breath out with relieve, keeping his arm squeezed on his torso a little bit longer as to protect it. Yet there was still that burned flesh scent…

"You mean you got shot once more on purpose?!" Vala asked him with an offended disbelieve. "You could have got us killed; you could have got _yourself_ killed! … What, you think it's clever?!" She kept on frantically; he wasn't helping her to get rid of her stress and anxiety at all… "Let me see what you did to yourself this time, maybe there's still something Dr Lam can do…"

Vala finally added, pulling on the man muscular shoulder to turn him around and to face him. Cam could see the worried look on her face, feeling guilty to lie to her that way… but it wasn't time to tell her the truth, to explain what the monster had after him and to show her the alien spike: they still had to find Sam and he knew the gunshots would attract more guards eventually so they could not stay on place for too long. Yet he held his arm tight on him like a mulish kid, making sure Vala would not reach his limb, and saying with a slightly irritated tone:

"Again, Val, I'm tellin' you; I'm alright!"

"But I saw th…" She began to protest fiercely, frowning and dubious.

"The bullet-proof vest has armoured sleeves as well." Cam interrupted her with an annoyed tone and a hard to believe lie, brushing past her to walk toward the end of the corridor.

"That doesn't even exist!" She protested and turned toward him as he was bending to grab the rebels' alien guns.

"How can you be so sure?" Mitchell asked to fool her, inspecting the weapon that burned him as hell, trying to avoid using his still slightly and unwillingly shaking arm. Cam then moved to walk slowly parallel to the wall toward the T-junction to check if there was still danger ahead without being noticed, ignoring Vala that had to trot to catch on him and keep on with the discussion.

"Cameron!" Mal Doran said with a reproachful tone, setting her fists on her hips with admonishment. She knew he wasn't telling her something and things were getting way too weird now. "Look at me when I'm talking to you at least!" She added.

Reluctantly, like the little brat that was being lectured, Cam turned to face her with a forged and long exasperated sight, rolling his eyes and avoiding her severe look. She could catch a hint of a bitter look on the handsome man's face, but she couldn't know where it came from. However, as she was going to indeed lecture him –how ironic; Vala being wiser than the SG1 leader!- they both heard breaking glass sounds and some clanking noises not so far from them… Some people were fighting hand-to-hand few meters away!

"That comes from the infirmary…" Began Mitchell with shock.

"Carter!" Realised Vala with utter concern.

Together, without waiting anymore, they rushed in the empty corridor toward the sickbay, readying their weapons anxiously.

* * *

They were fighting just past the door in the middle of fallen gurneys and cheap hospital beds, as if Jasde the Cadelan came in just at the same time Carter was heading to the exit, surprised each other and engaged the struggle. So Cam and Vala were too close to use their guns; they would risk harming Carter as well, even more due to the fact she and the doctor were closely wrestling for a needle filled probably with a sedative chemical.

"Sam!" Mitchell let out as he burst by the doorway, seeing what was going on with shock.

"Cam?!" Carter asked with astonishment, turning her head toward him to see if it was really him.

But that distraction was enough for the Cadelan black woman to take advantage of the situation, to tear the syringe off Carter's hands and to raise it, ready to strike with it. Catching her doing so, Mitchell followed his heroic impulsions, dashed for the two women and interfere between his favourite scientist and the untrusting doctor. The tip of the needle dove into some flesh, releasing its sedative liquid…

**To be continued!!**


	12. Chapter 12

Of course it was too easy: Mitchell knew he had that hated alien thingy, but however how much he wanted that foreign object out of his flesh –because the burning and the awful sensation it gave every time it would slid in his insides was totally sickening- the thing was an opportunity to sacrifice himself to save the people he cared about. In fact, it is easier to react when you know you do not risk too much and he always been the kind that would suffer to death if it keeps the rest of the SG1 team safe. The only thing was that, instead of thinking of a way to do so without getting himself mistreated as he always did, the invulnerability feeling unconsciously made him unable to think of a simply safe plans…

So Cam willingly took the sedative shot right in the deltoid muscle when he could had only punch the needle out from the doctor's hand and send it flying on the ground… or when he could only pull Carter out of the doctor's hold… he had many options better than the one he chose.

Carter stepped back when she realise that the Cadelan would attack, or maybe more when she saw the strike landed, but Mitchell stayed still a split second, looking at the syringe deep and emptied in his shoulder as the doctor took off her hand from it. But then a cocky smirk appeared on his face and he glanced sassily directly at the Cadelan; suddenly, Cam gave her a punch right on the nose, not strong enough to break any bone, but still enough to stun her for seconds and to push her back. Jasde backing up and holding her nose, Carter right on place and Vala holding her stolen guns; the women were all shocked, wide eying the colonel as he was still smiling at the doctor and rubbing his shoulder. The man hoped the Letelk healing would work as well on sedative, knowing that he would learn the answer in a few seconds; it had to spread in his blood before being effective, as he experienced the day before.

Carter reacted first: she walked to Vala, took one of her gun then aimed it on the Cadelan, asking her to drop any tool that could be used as a weapon. The black woman did so very slowly, never stopping her suspicious and surprise stare at Cam's eyes. Only then, Vala came back from the surprise and went really agitated and infuriated:

"Mitchell! What the… _What is going on with you_!?!" She gestured, too overwhelmed by anxiety but also anger to see the leader of the team acting this way to find the right words on the moment. "You've been knocked on the head or what?! You keep acting in a so _stupid_ way! I never thought I would see something like this coming from you! It's just…" She let out a frustrated slight cry; still disbelieving he really took the shot once again.

"Vala, hey, I'm ok and you don't need to worry in any way…" Mitchell placated while turning to face her, gesturing in an appeasing way. But at this moment, he realised the sedative would still work a little bit before the Letelk healing would get rid of the chemical: he began to blink a little bit, begening to barely feeling anything else of his body than numbness.

"She is right; you had no reason to eagerly stand the syringe, that is just… not you!" Carter began with a concerned but reprimanding tone. However, she interrupted herself when she quickly glanced at him and saw the giddy and light look on his face. "Crap; now the effect of the product begins to win over him!" Carter stated, frowning.

Indeed, Mitchell felt like being quickly disconnected from reality; the situation was even getting funny to him, except for dizziness, but still he could swear his numerous pains were washed away. Vala, catching his unusual high look as well, moved to him and stood behind Cam, her hands on his shoulders in case she had to support him when he would fall asleep suddenly.

"Tha' doesn' work for me, miss… I can…handle this…" Cam managed to stammer, slightly rocking as he was fighting to keep standing up and to keep his eyelids opened. He also broke free from Vala's caring hold, wobbling a little as well, and then glanced at both Mal Doran and Carter as a silly attempt to reassure them.

"Exaggerated impulsions and concerns, plus denial… that would explain his quite important abnegating behaviour… But where did I hear that before again?" The Cadelan spoke for the first time since the two broke in, half thinking loud to herself. The situation was slightly familiar, but why?...

Carter stared at her, wondering what it was all about; when she thought about it, that was it: Cam would give his life to save them if he had to, but always made sure to not be too daredevil… at least before this moment aboard the giant ship. Something was changing him. Suddenly, they could all hear Cam stumbling to his knees behind them; too light-headed, lethargic and numb to keep up. As Vala moved to him and lowered herself to keep him from collapsing entirely to the hard floor and Carter stepped back toward Cam while still be targeting the Cadelan; Mitchell finally began to feel the awfully blazing pain coming from the Letelk spike. It was running in his veins as furious lava, setting fire to every of his nerves and muscles as it was hunting down and destroying the sedative. He dropped to the ground, convulsing, violently shaking and letting out a single muffled groaning. Vala tried to immobilize him to keep him from getting hurt while he was trembling, calling his name, and Carter rushed to Mitchell. Yet, as she finally kneeled beside him and put her hand on his forehead to find out if he had some sort of violent fever with all the sweat drops on his face, the healing ended at last.

Panting, his glassy eyes filled with shock and cobwebs, Cam sat up so unexpectedly -as if he came out of a very gruelling nightmare- that the two women blenched. He was paler, so paler that it was nearly frightening, but he managed to jump on his feet shaky. Though Cam regretted standing up that swiftly; the usual vertigos and headaches the curing power brought caught back on him and his gaze went blank for seconds.

"Mitchell?!"

Carter let out as she stood up as well, shocked and unsure of what to think about this right now. She scrutinize the appealing but sick looking man as he shook his head to get rid of the cobweb, Carter utterly wondering what was going on. Vala even grabbed him by the cheeks to force him to face her before she could inspect him; after that frightening convulsion seizure, how could he look _only_ vaguely shaken? And the man slightly, faintly and sheepishly smiled at her before gently taking her hands off his face, as Mitchell was feeling sorry for something… She could even hear the wheezing of Cam's breathing; he was definitively hiding something to his friends, he wasn't as healty as he was pretending.

"That isn't natural… Humans don't react like that to sedatives!" Jasde the Cadelan exclaimed, starring suspiciously at the colonel. Hearing that, Cameron immediately flinched and turned toward her along with Sam and Val.

The doctor felt as if she already heard of something like that before, mysterious come backs like the handsome military just did. Led by her instinct, she decided to use senses to discover a detail that could resolve the entire puzzle; her pupils widened so quickly it felt as if her irises and even more of her eyes turned dark crimson.

"Wait, what you're doing now?" Mitchell asked her while aiming his weapon at her, wondering if the fact that she was kind of extraterrestrial meant she had special deadly powers as well, getting ready to fire at any sign of hostilities. How heavy the gun seemed on the moment; would he be able to hide the trembling of his arms?

"I'm trying to see…" Jasde answered, frowning as she was trying to focus on something.

"See _what_?" Vala asked-her suspiciously.

"Heat." The doctor simply answered with an irritated tone as if it was evident. To that, the SG1 members glanced at each others with wonder, unsure of what to think about that. Yet the black woman should had noticed their confusion only by their silence and explain: "My people can catch sight of heat variations when we focus… that's why humans are jealous and hate us…well it's what I feel like sometimes…" She then added: "And that's why I was rushing in the infirmary immediatly when you were waking up, Army-boy… never wondered how I knew it without being close or having any medical stuff linked to you?"

"Thought 't was actually bad luck…" Cam muttered sulkily.

The Cadelans had some kind of primitive and biological thermal vision; nothing extraordinary, but it was still a plus in some case… That helped them a lot to repair computer compounds; they could see where the chips were overheating and knew where to look at and much more. But this time, she was focusing on Cameron. And what she saw of the muscular man standing in front of her was the round spot cooler than his body heath nearly in the middle of his chest, close to the heart. This round thing wasn't alive...That was it!

" A Teyarsen! By Sheshan and the Spirits; the whole time it was a Teyarsen! I should have known now that seemed so obvious!" The doctor let out with astonishment, cursing herself for being that blind.

"A what?!" Cam asked, frowning and bewildered.

"What you called a _blue pebble alien_! And the continuous contact with it would explain the behaviour change and the healings…" She exclaimed as an answer, clearly getting anxious about this and getting her eyes back to their normal look.

"The Letelk?" Carter asked, puzzled a little. She didn't notice the startled look on Mitchell's face as he realised the doctor knew. Somehow, maybe the thing was influencing his brain; right now, he became conscious of the fact that it was a little bit stupid to act like he did since the thing went through his torso… maybe even worst than stupid.

"Whatever it is called, it doesn't matter…" The doctor began; in fact, her people didn't call the creature the same way, that was why she didn't react before and thought Cam was crazy. "But I have to warn Royer about the danger!!" She added with concern.

"I already did." Mitchell told her, trying to avoid the subject of the spike she surely saw.

"I doubt it's enough, she doesn't know how dangerous the monster could get…" The doctor replied with an irritated and slightly startled tone.

"Wait, what did you said about continuous contact again?" Vala asked her, realising something still sounded weird in the story.

On this, the Cadelan didn't answer: she simply nodded toward Mitchell, as if she was saying: ask him… Suspicious, Vala and Samantha turned toward him at the right moment Cam instinctively putted one hand on the dumbbell-shaped Letelk spike like he had in mind to keep any body from touching it. This move was enough to start them thinking about something he would have on him that he would hide to them because it ashamed him… And it had something to do with the blue monster… Vala tilted her head on the side, wondering, and then reached for his forearm to pull his hand away from that spot on his chest.

"Hey, you're not gonna trust her aren't you?" Cam asked with a very short and nervous chuckle, fighting Val's pull. How would they react when they'll see the horrible thing impaling him? That would be just too much for them, he thought, and his concerns and priorities were in fact exaggerated and fooled as a secondary effect of the contact with the blue shards.

So there was something he was actually hiding to the women! Carter came closer as well, frowning and put her hand on Cameron's shoulder to soothe his worries, eager to find out what he had in order to help.

"Cam, you know you can count on us no matter what the problem is…" She said to him sincerely.

Reluctantly but still obeying to the unspoken order, with a bitter and ashamed look on his face, Mitchell loosened his grip that was protecting the rounded piece of the spike; letting Vala put aside his arm and press her fingers on his chest. With the surprised look she suddenly had and the slight aching it brought, the lt. colonel knew she found the spike. He turned his gaze slightly away and caught the wondering look on Carter's face, feeling even more embarrassed. Yet, without warning the man, Mal Doran unexpectedly grabbed Cam's T-shirt and lifted it high to take a look at his chest under it.

"Don't! You already tried with my pants, can't you leave me alone?!" Mitchell protested yet not too violently as he cringed, pulling his shirt back to cover himself.

But it was too late and the women didn't enjoyed as much as when it was about his pant loss: they had sufficient time to see well enough the blue shape sticking out of his skin and muscles with some small dried droplets of blood, right in the chest and surrounded by a dark bruise. A hand clasped on her mouth, Vala wide eyed him with horror and Carter raised both eyebrows with shock and concern, both speechless. And it was even worst when Sam moved her fingers to the back of the man, apprehending to find something there; yet she was right as she pressed on a round shape: Cam winced and shivered and the other end of the spike popped a little more out under the fabric of the shirt as the thing slid slightly _through_ him…

"That's horrible!" She let out, shocked to find something could mistreat a man that much.

"I had time enough to grasp that…" He answered cynically, then realised how wrong it sounded. "Sorry… it's just… never mind: right now it's not doing any harm I guess, so I'll just ask the medic team to get rid of it once we'll be back to Cheyenne Mountain." He added, more sheepishly. But then a thought stroke him: was it doing no harm? "Doc, that crap isn't life-threatening right?" Cam asked to the black woman with concern, suddenly turning his face toward her.

"Not the separated pieces, but their owner is and if you got this on you, Army-boy, that means the Teyarsen -or the Letelk or whatever- is planning to end its feast soon and once for all…" The black woman answered seriously.

"We need to hurry up and to get back to the gate then…" Carter said, still moved by the discovery, staring at Cam's shirt right where she knew the foreign body was. That must have been so painful, whatever if it was healing him to a nearly Superman-like status. Plus the experience looked like very aching as well: they had a pretty impressive show few minutes ago when he managed to escape the sedative effect of the syringe…

"It will catch back on him before, especially since you have no mean to get down to the earth and to get back there: we're far from the gate and quite _high_ above the ground…" The Doc explained.

"I know that too well…" Cam muttered.

"Which is why you should let me warn Royer about the creature; she'll be able to get her crew to find it and destroy it…" She kept on, ignoring Cameron's comment. She didn't know as well that the crew was quite busy enough right now...

"We won't let you go…" Mitchell began with a serious tone, embarrassed and zipping his leather jacket when he caught the staring look Carter and Vala had on his chest. The women glance changed to wondering when they heard what the lt. colonel first said. "… We're coming with you." He added still seriously, to every female on place surprise.

"You really think we should go with her? Maybe it is a trap." Asked Carter, unsure of what to think; he seemed so confident, yet his behaviour was somehow changed and way more reckless nowadays… was-he going to send them in a dangerous ambush without realising it?

"Who knows better than the captain aboard how to get an elevator down to the chilly land and a nippy way back to the Stargate?" Mitchell answered; slightly smiling impishly to her as he was readying his alien weapon.

"Right, so we still need the _Doc_ to get to the captain safely." Vala deducted proudly.

"Yep… and this time they won't caught me by surprise while I'm doing the hostage li'll play." Mitchell said; handing a way better gun to Carter than what she had in hands and smiling back at her when she thanked him kindly. At least their leader was still able of reasoning and was thinking forward for once since he had been stroke by the spike. Only to the thought of the cruel object, she couldn't help but feel a little bit of pity for the good looking man.

"We don't want to know?" Sam asked him, slightly amused.

"Exactly." Mitch replied with a broad smile, reloading the gun with a deep snap as if it was a classical shotgun. At least he did well ignoring the seizure of vertigo that stroke him at the same time; not hiding it would had ruined a part of the nice assurance he was building back to lead as he should his friends and team…

The Cadelan leading the way and followed by a part of SG1, they headed for the bridge of the giant maze-like ship, full of hope to finally get out of this place, wishing Teal'c and Jackson were going as well as they were. They heard a lot of gun fight sounds all around, trying to avoid the conflict the more they could, acting like they were part of the crew the two times they've met some Royer followers dressed in black and so on. Yet there weren't only those that were numerous in the corridors and the small group discovered it very soon when they caught the sight of a bunch of red coloured people coming out of their rooms and letting out some ridiculous war cries…

**to be continued**


	13. Chapter 13

**authore note: a little bit of sentimentality in this chapter... don't shoot me I had to!**

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The rebels saw them and it was enough to distract them from the attack against Mayka's followers that was planned; they all turned nearly at the same time toward Cam, Sam, Vala and the doc; letting out some surprised and angered exclamations. Those last ones had to react; about 20 or 30 armed hostiles would be too much to handle in a direct fight, in the middle of a ship corridor… but was there some door leading to the corridor again?

"Quick, on the left!" Cam commanded, grabbing the handle of the first door he could reach, thankful it wasn't locked.

They all rushed in the room as gun shots went flying in the corridor just in their back. At least now the rebels had to walk to the door and enter in to keep on with their attack, but the three SG1 won't just wait for them: they immediately spotted a desk in a corner of the room they came in –a kind of study room that looked vacant for years- and moved to it, threw it sound on its side and got cover behind it. They knew what they had to do –but the Cadelan that simply ducked with them with a panicked look on her face- and they shot at every foe that was coming by the doorway; lowering themselves when they were shot back, lifting themselves up to fire when the rebels were reloading. But even with a great position to fight, they were outnumbered as the rebels were getting even more numerous; they had to find a way to get out of there before their chance to escape would disappear and before they would not have enough ammunition to go on.

"_Doc_, is there any other way out? We can't stay trapped in here forever y'know…" Mitchell said to the black woman with a pressing tone, before standing a little to shoot and before crouching back behind the desk to dodge some blasters.

"Another way out? Well, I have to think about it…" The Cadelan answered hesitantly, glancing around to look for it as if the question was surprising her.

"Can you try faster?" Vala added pressingly.

At this very moment, still influenced by the effects of the alien foreign object, Mitchell only wanted to jump out of their hiding place to run to the doorway and shoot down the more people he could before distracting them enough to let the rest of the team time to escape the study room. But at the same time another part of his mind was clear about that: the plan was stupid and there was probably a better way out than getting nearly killed again. He quickly glared at the doctor that looked to be thinking really fast and he could catch the sight of a victorious sparkle in her eyes when she found their way out:

"The wall!! That's it!" She let out, smiling broadly to herself.

Then, without taking care of the SG1 wondering look or the blasters shot their way, she stood up and jogged to the other corner of the room, near a really dark piece of wall they haven't noticed before. Surprisingly, she grabbed that part of the wall and pulled on it: it was only a black sheet attached to hide a huge hole in the metallic wall, a hole big enough to be a porch.

"The former treasurer crashed in it with…" She began to explain.

"Let me guess, a snow-bike? Then they fired him…" Vala interrupted, cheered up and amused as she remembered the story the former lieutenant told her when he was drunk and when Daniel and she gave him the idea to set that rebellion.

"You repair your walls with sheets?!" Carter asked with disbelieve.

"Look; we are short on money in here! It was only until we found something else..." Replied the offended doc.

"Where does the hole ends then?" Mitchell asked, turning his head away from the doorway to look at the Cadelan. He had to get their attention back on the situation, whatever if fixing a wall with a piece of fabric was very pitiful. They were still under fire, but it would be easy enough to move to that exit if it is useful.

"In another corridor of course!" The woman answered as if it was obvious before going by this hole in the wall, disappearing of the room without waiting for her kidnaper's orders.

"But what corridor?!" Cam muttered half to himself, realising the black woman had left while he was busy shooting at the rebels, the doc quickly followed by Vala. "Damn it! They're worst than a shotgun wedding!... Carter, you're ready to move?" He then asked Sam with an irritated tone, forced to follow the two others after all.

"We only need a little distraction to keep them from following us, after that we can leave once for all." Carter answered, exchanging a few shot and killing one more rebel. Though she smiled inwardly, imagining Cameron to a stereotypical southern forced wedding, threatened by his fictive step-father's gun.

"I think I can do that…" Cam let out with a smartass grin on his face, reloading his weapon before jumping off from behind the desk, without waiting for Sam's comments.

He ran to the doorway, shooting the few foes that were appearing outside, and simply closed the door and locked it. Then he grabbed an occasional table plus some desk chairs and piled them up just on the closed door in case they tried to shoot through or to smash in. Understanding what it was all about, Carter stood up as well and backed off slowly toward the alternate exit; Mitchell then came back and they both could leave quickly to catch back on the two others.

"I guess that will keep them busy long enough…" Mitchell commented with dry-wit humour as they glared at each other. Behind them, they could hear the angry shouting and banging on the door, but they had no time to take care of that, running in the hallway as they were.

* * *

"You… y'said… y'had the key!" Panted Cameron with difficulty and visible pain. He was leaning his back on the wall just beside the door leading to the bridge, trying to pass over the sheer aching burning in his lungs, only succeeding to get it worst when he tried to take a deep breath. Why did he had to feel like drowning every time he would move fast? That was frustrating.

"I have it and I'm trying it, but it is all rusty: she never locks the door more often than not!" Jasde replied, giving a concerned look to the handsome man. Indeed, he could not help but getting even paler, he had that typical cyanosis to his lips and was blinking and wheezing in an alarming way. Poor man, she thought, and she felt even guiltier when she remembered the fact that she ignored his warnings about the vicious monster in first place.

"L… Let me try… then." He gasped, trying faintly to stand up to walk to her.

"No, let me take care of that, Mitchell." Samantha said hastily, trying her best to hide her worries and very softly pushing Cam back to his leaning position.

She knew he had to catch his breath in order to keep going and it wasn't by walking around that he would do so. Carter walked to the door, took the keys the doctor was handing her and tried to unlock it. She had to shake the handle pretty much before the door unlocked and opened slowly. They knew something was wrong; the deadly silence was very unusual, as the only few lights opened and sputtering in a creepy way. On the floor, many bodies were lying in their blood… black dressed bodies…

"Royer?..." Called the doc; frowning with wondering.

But there was only that silence… She should be in that room; she was supposed to get in it after all...

They carefully entered in the room –Mitchell as well; willing to forget his pain and short breath- their weapons readied in case it was an ambush. But it wasn't one this time: the small group separated automatically to slowly inspect the dark room, looking for any hint that would explain the scene. Maybe the rebels got her?...

"They're dead." Announced Sam as she lowered herself to take the pulse of the guards on the ground. Yet they could have guessed it since the moment they saw them.

Mitchell was walking the best he could, studying every shadow, checking for any human shape, anything. He had the feeling he knew where the captain was when he caught the sight of a large black captain's chair, the backrest turned his way so he couldn't tell if someone was sitting on it. Well someone was in that chair; Cam grabbed it and slowly turned it to discover Mayka sat motionless, her head dropping on one of her shoulders. It nearly looked like she was sleeping. Frowning; seeing the once important but now faint stream of blood coming out of a gap on the side on her neck, the colonel reached for her wrist to check her pulse: her skin was cold as death and the heart beat was very slow… Yet suddenly -he recoiled a little- her hand grabbed the man's wrist and her glassy eyes shot open with a glare of non-recognition. She had the sad eyes of agony even if she frowned.

"Who's… who's there? …" She grunted in a whisper; as she was still willing to fight. Her weak hold moved higher on the man's forearm -as he was too stirred to find anything to answer- only by feeling his nicely shaped muscles that no men from her crew really had, she took a guess: "Army-boy… Is-it you?" She asked with shock and a renewed fright of dying.

"What happened?" He asked softly, whispering as well, the Captain still unnoticed by the rest of his team and the doc. He didn't break free from her hold, a little bit unsettled by the so pleading and scared look on her face: more than ever, she looked like a poor teenager girl, whatever if few days ago she was still a despotic pirate.

"The little… men that were still loyal to… m…me just decided I was better down…" She answered a little bitterly, in a murmur. "I took those bastards… off as you can see" She added with a faint proud and taunting tone; weakly nodding to the bodies all around with a slight smirk on her soft lips. But her smile fainted when she winced from the pain in her bleeding neck. She didn't bring up the fact they got her as well however… "Hey, look: I'm sorry; I didn't …have enough time to… look for y…your monster and it's not because I didn't want this time…"

Mayka sighed; her drifting look seeming as she could see much anymore. There she was getting more sympathetic; Mitchell knew she felt her end coming really soon. Was it her fault if she had a so bad education that it drove her to criminality? She now seemed to regret it a lot after all.

"That's okay. But you still can do something for us if you want to; d'you know an easy way to get back to the ground and to the stargate?" Mitchel whispered, still immobile at her side and looking straight in her eyes. He knew she bled too much to get away this time… The thought of try a way to heal her with his Letelk spike went across his mind, but he knew he couldn't take it out from his own chest so he couldn't use it on someone else.

"In the hangar… there's an emergency… lift that can go down quite a lot of meters… our best snow-bikes are hidden in… the kind of shed at the left and… the keys for the locks are… in the empty old first aid kit…" Her words were barely audible at the end as her eyelids were beginning to slowly shut.

"Thanks…" Mitchell began, slightly and gently smiling at her.

"You… won't run away when it ain't over yet this time, boy; I … didn't have enough time to apologize somehow…" She began weakly with a slight teasing tone… "That may look _cheap_ now… but… stay a li'll longer… please." She begged, closing her eyes.

"You want me to call _Doc_? She's still on your side to the very end… not like the others. I'm sure you'll be better with her on your side instead of me; it's not like we've been really friendly with each other..." Cam asked her; whispering and a little bit embarrassed: his captor wanted to be with him as if they were friends or something; that wasn't making much sense to him. She was also the one leading the idiots that treated him this way.

It was because he couldn't know what she was feeling for him.

"You silly: she's a girl… I need someone more... _manly_ at my side..." She chuckled to her own joke so softly that he barely heard it… but that still troubled and puzzled him a little.

The silence came back and Mitchell could hear some footsteps in his back. He turned his head to see Carter and Vala slowly coming his way, looking at the former captain with wonder. And at this very moment, Mitchell felt the faint hold on his forearm loosening; Royer let go.

"Is she?..." Samantha didn't end her sentence, now standing at Cam's side.

"I think." Mitchell answered slowly, frowning and unable to know how to react to it: he was feeling sorry for the captain somehow. Once more he took her pulse but it was flat. Dead flat. When he took his arm back, the women knew that it was over for her.

"Did she say something?" Vala asked.

"We have our way down now; a private lift and vehicles." Mitchell answered before taking his gaze away from the captain. At this moment, the Cadelan approached as well, a bitter and sad look on her face. Yet she stood behind the SG1 members, stunned.

"Then you should leave now…" She simply said sullenly. "I'll take care of her: I can't let the red bastards put their dirty hands on her no matter how much we disagreed on everything." She added, her voice slightly shaking with anger.

"You can't just stay here…" Carter told her; knowing the rebels will kill her as well.

"Oh no don't _worry_: I'll give them a surprise they won't forget before leaving this place on my own. Hehe; I make it my personal task to make sure they won't play at kidnappers anymore with this damned ship, trust me… This piece of junk will go down." The black woman answered bitterly, staring fiercely right into Cam's baby blue eyes. She was determined to end this madness once for all.

"Don't kill if there is no need to then." Mitchell advised her seriously; he knew he could not do anything if this woman was resolute to destroy this old giant ship.

But at the same time he couldn't just let her do some mass destruction only to get revenge; the SG1 members were not to start bloodsheds if they could prevent it from happening. Finally, the Cadelan was a smart young woman basically kind of innocent and only doing her job the best she could–even with no qualifications at all- so letting her becoming a murderer wasn't scrupulous at all. Jasde shrugged before answering:

"I won't; I need a good _résumé_ if I want to leave this country plus if I want to get a better job once I'll be settled." She was kidding a little, but she was sincere.

"Fine, good luck then." Cam told her, nodding politely to her as a salute, a slight sorry smile on his lips.

"To all of you as well." The Cadelan answered, softly smiling back. She knew she had to let that wonderful man go anyway…

After some more solemn goodbyes from all the SG1 members, Cam, Sam and Val headed to the exit; they still had to rally Teal'c and Jackson at the meeting point before heading to the hangar and their freedom.  
But did they know they were closely followed?...

* * *

"Wow! That sure is bigger than the previous ones." Daniel let out as he finally managed to open the last metal shed door Mayka pointed them; seeing the snow-bikes stored there.

" 'hope there's security belts on those rides…" Cam commented, setting the empty first aid kit on a crate next to him. He couldn't forget the time he felt off one of those vehicles; that wasn't a good experience at all.

The team was readying themselves; they luckily found some winter coats and gloves, they were now close to that lift and able to get those snow-bikes, they were all together and healthy –but not Cam when we think about the spike impaling him, yet he was able to move and to fight well- , the rebels won the ship and stopped the fights, Daniel and Teal'c even found directions to get back to the good ol' rind and they now knew how to open the slightly malfunctioning gate… They could only wish the snowstorm had diminished, that the rebels won't try to follow them and that the fluctuation in the wormhole that led them on this planet was still working if they wanted to reverse it and get back to SGC. Yet Cam forgot another concern he should have…

"So… to activate the lift?..." Vala began as a question; looking expectantly at the others.

"We should first get the bikes onto it…" Daniel said, and then grunted as he was pushing one of the vehicles to try to take it out of the shed. "Why isn't it moving?" He then let out with disappointment.

With a teasing smile on his lips, Teal'c moved to the snow-bike and pushed it out of the shed nearly effortless to Jackson annoyance. The Jaffa did the same with the second vehicle; pushing the two to the middle of the platform that would go down several meters to the snowy ground. At first, they doubted it would go so low since the ship was quite high, but when Carter inspected the half-alien structure, she was surprised to find it would work wonderfully with this particular shape.

"Ok boys and girls: chose your bumpin' car and take a seat; I'm going to send power in our private elevator." Cam said with a playful smirk, already heading for the command room.

The room was built in the hangar with a large window to watch at the gigantic door facing it; that was what remained of the time when the ship was still able to go outer-space and when people could get in the pressurised chamber to control the docking. Now it was only where all the power switches were, behind a heavy metal door that could be sealed. The colonel opened that sliding door and came in; going for the control panels as the door was closing back behind him. By the window, he could she his team deciding who's getting on which snow-bike.

"Now which one it is?" He said out to himself, inspecting the numerous buttons and reading the very few captions explaining the use of those.

There were also many of them with home-made caption written on pieces of paper tightly glued over the original ones and the new ones were in what seemed to be French. Cam came across one on which he could read: " _ascenseur_" and he immediately thought of the so often mentioned Ascended beings because of the first letters… Maybe the prefix the two words shared - _ascen_- had something to do with the motion… Ascended; to ascend; to rise; to go up… to lift maybe? Perhaps it was controlling the lift… He gave a try and turned the switch on. Immediately the lights on the lift went on with a subtle humming he couldn't hear from the sealed command room. At least he guessed very well and smiled proudly.

"And when _I_ solve those Jackson-fashioned riddles, there is no one around to congratulate me!" Cam said to himself humorously.

However, a slight rustle behind him caught suddenly his attention… His eyes widened as he froze on place, apprehending what it could be: he wasn't alone in the room… _something_ followed him! Slowly, readying his weapon, Cameron turned to find out what was actually crawling behind him…

**to be continued**


	14. Chapter 14

**Author note: Am I the only one that feels sorry for Mayka? Damn it … :)**

** Now back to our dear Cam: knock knock… who's there? ****:P**

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When he finally faced the exit door, there wasn't anything else than the usual furniture: maybe it was only his imagination that fooled him to think he wasn't alone?... No it wasn't; he knew there was something, he knew it too well since the creature could be really stealthy… He squinted, looking for any faint move, feeling his heart beat going faster as adrenaline reached it. Now he had a gun and the rest of the team as well; maybe he could stand a chance? He had to stand a chance, even more; he had to beat to death the piece of crap of a monster to make sure it would never harm anyone anymore.

Suddenly, the same blue bubbling he already saw before appeared just before the door; the creature was showing itself at last. Cameron didn't wait; he immediately opened fire on the thing, clenching his jaw with a very angered and slightly revengeful look. The thing recoiled at every of the shot; letting out a infuriated hissing and Cameron even saw some blue shards flying around as the gun broke some of the pebble-like bones of the Letelk. Finally; he was going to destroy the blood-thirsty beast! He would do it alone however; the others in the hangar were not hearing the shooting sounds at all and were not noticing the sparkles it made because they were not looking his way. The Letelk lowered itself as it was collapsing; Mitchell could already feel the victory…

Yet the thing wasn't simply lying down to die: it simply readied itself to jump. And it jumped; so quickly Cam had only enough time to shoot at it once or twice before it would land on him, pushing him brutally on the ground and on his back. That was so sudden that he dropped his gun as the back of his head knocked soundly on the floor and as the heavy weight of the monster rushed the air out of his lungs in a groan. He could feel a thick liquid down in his throat and a stomach churning pain as well when the thing almost certainly rupture many blood vessels in his abdomen or maybe more... The shock to his brain also left him stunned and confused so the creature immediately took advantage of it and drew out a claw-like limb, still sitting about on Cam's stomach. When Mitchell saw the new weapon that was surely going to make him bleed to death; he immediately forgot the cobwebs in his mind and reached for his gun on the floor beside him and then shot right on the pointy part of the Letelk to destroy it. The limb immediately fell in pieces and in shards… yet it leaved the monster even more mad and angry. The thing was hungry, it had to drink, whatever if it would kill its prey this time…

As Cam was still shooting, fighting, lifting his upper body the best he could and trying to push the thing off him –because it was painfully squeezing him and suffocating him- the Letelk stretched two arm-like pebble limbs; grabbing the man by both shoulders. Taken by surprise, Mitchell couldn't do anything before the thing would attack: the Letelk pushed violently aback the man's upper body so his head would again knock soundly on the hard floor. The colonel let out a slight surprised and shocked exclamation, his sigh and mind immediately flooded with fog and cobwebs as he was left stunned lying on his back. Just when he began to feel the burning of the healing climbing to his very painfully squeezed body and to his half knocked-out head, the creature sat him up slightly in pulling on his shoulders before pushing him back once more. Again Cam's skull knocked painfully on the floor, wincing and still stunned by the shock and the dizziness. He closed his gaped mouth when he felt thick and warm liquid flowing down his neck, instinctively knowing it was his own blood coming out of his wounded head.

With the commotion starting, he had not much left of his reasoning other than instinct: he clasped one hands on both Letelk limbs that were holding him, trying to break free and to destroy the pebble that shaped it with his stolen gun. But the creature quickly lifted his upper body to push him back violently on the floor before the healing would start back. This time, overwhelmed by the headache and dizziness and the pain now starting in his neck, Cam only blinked with pure shock; unable to think of anything and to fight the monster. His lips moved a little as he was going to protest; but no words came out and the creature already lift him a little to then push him back brutally and soundly. The human immediately began to shake faintly but uncontrollably, his eyes rolling upward as conscience half left him. What of his crushed skull or of the fire slowly climbing to his brain was worst? He wasn't able to think… What was the tingle he could barely feel in his ears now? Was it… _blood_?

Although the monster gave one more cruel push to the man before judging it could get off its prey and start feeding with it. The now recovered blood flow -that was partly interrupt by the pressure the Letelk was putting on Mitchell's stomach- was just enough to jolt his heart and brain faintly. Cam trembled, instinctively took his hands off the monster and reached for the gun. As he could feel the cold and dark maw of unconsciousness and death surrounding him closely, he only knew he had one chance with this weapon… Instead of aiming at the so hated monster, he faintly pointed the gun at the large window and fired on it not very keenly but still. After two or three seconds, the monster shaped back a huge claw and swiftly drove it into its prey forearm; through the sleeve of his coat and of his leather jacket, between the ulna and the radius so the human would stop playing with his weapon once for all. Cam cried out and dropped the gun, then his wide opened eyes quickly closed; he fainted from the additional pain to what was already hellish. The monster took its claw out the man's flesh, waiting shortly for the blood to pour out of the colonel's forearm before beginning to drink it with pleasure and greed.

Yet the man's attempt wasn't vain: the noisy shaking of the window –the only sound that reached them- drew the attention of the other SG1 members and they all turned toward the isolated room to see what it was all about. The lights of the command room were on, they remembered that Cam was going in this area but the place seemed empty for what they could see by the window… They immediately knew something was wrong and they all rushed to the heavy door, opening it with apprehension. And they saw _it_. A blue vaguely human shape made of thousands of round stones bended over their unconscious leader to suck his forearm, both lying in a very small but alarming puddle of blood and blue shards probably coming from the monster as it broke somehow. Horrified, they didn't wait any longer before fiercely opening fire on the thing with their respective stolen weapon; Vala and Daniel had two medium weapon each to fire with and Carter and Tealc some heavy and effective one.

The Letelk monster was so desperate to feed with Cam's blood that it didn't defend itself on the moment, until nearly half of its round bones were bust and scattered on the floor. Then the thing let Mitchell arm go, still under heavy and noisy fire, and turned toward SG1, letting out a low infuriated hissing. Even if the thing was getting smaller at every shot, it was still very dangerous and determinate to kill, walking slowly toward the team, fighting the blow of the blasters on it.

"Back off; we cannot let the thing reach us!!" Carter commanded quickly.

They all did so carefully and not stopping their fire at the thing, concerned as the creature was always approaching; now not more than 5 feet 3 tall and still diminishing, but that meant nothing.

"We cannot move backward forever; we won't be able to destroy that thing quickly enough!" Exclaimed Daniel with concern. Yet, the moment after, he tripped on some crates left in the way that he didn't see since he wasn't looking behind him, falling on his rear with surprise.

When Vala -that was just at his side- helped him standing up, Jackson noticed what was in the plastic boxes that fell to its side; that was fuel cans carelessly tossed in the middle of the hangar! With a pleased surprise, Jackson grabbed one of those cans and showed it to his team-mates.

"Does somebody have matches?" He asked, victoriously smiling.

"I believe the heat of the blasters shots will be enough to ignite the fuel." Teal'c stated as he was still shooting on the monster.

"It was more about blowing off the Letelk …" Explained Jackson. "Though I fear that would be too dangerous to try so with a target that close."

On this, the Jaffa simply tore the can off Jackson's hand, giving him a look that told all: he was going to take care of the explosion. Understanding that, knowing Teal'c was the best for that kind of mission, the rest of the team backed off quickly to find cover, still shooting on the thing; as Teal'c stood on place with his weapon and the fuel can. He pushed the box full of other cans further so it wouldn't explode as well; in case the first time wouldn't be enough, then tossed the can he had 2 meters (6.5 feet) before the Letelk. Then he moved swiftly away, turned back toward the creature and aimed to shot the can on the floor when he was far as much as necessary. Luckily, the impact of the burning shots didn't push the object away before the temperature would be sufficient and soon the can heated enough to blow off in an explosion, just as the monster was getting to it. Even if it wasn't huge, it was sufficient to create a wave of heat, a deafening sound and to destroy in tiny numerous and motionless bits the blue alien monster. At last, the small shards would not reassemble and attack anyone anymore! That thing caused too much troubles aftern all... But that wasn't over yet: they still had to escape… and to take care of Mitchell!

* * *

He knew from the faint burning sensation that remained that his forearm and his abdomen were healed… but the utterly painful headache was something else; as the feeling of being constantly beaten on the head with a hammer and the kind of alarming pressure he felt in his skull wasn't enough, there was still the feeling that molten iron was shot through all his neural nerves. He immediately let out a quite raspy but chocked groan when he went aware of his aching body; however Cam was unable to think or remember of anything yet and could only try to clutch his hands to his temples. _Only try_ because the movement didn't happen at all; his arms simply shook epileptically, rising faintly but unable to reach his head. At this moment, Mitchell realised all his muscles were trembling uncontrollably and that motion was causing even more suffering to his head. Suddenly, as he was still trying to move his limbs without taking care of the additional pain it brought, he felt some hands grabbing his wrists and upper arms and holding it to the floor. Confused, he tried to fight, but he wasn't even sure if he had really moved while wanting so. A muffled noise vaguely reached him after all those minutes it sounded beside him; something looked familiar in the sound… maybe he knew the words the voice kept saying… maybe it was his name after all… If at least the double pain could stop; he would be able to think a little clearer! Where was he again? And what was he doing… on the _ground_? Cam felt something pulling on his eyelids and forcing both of his eyes open. The light was too bright, the colors were too intense; even the blurred shapes over him were oddly dizzying him: Mitchell immediately shut his eyes tight with a faint grunt.

"His pupils are not equally dilated; clearly a concussion. At least he responds to some stimulus…" A feminine voice said distantly; yet Cam wasn't able to make much sense of it; he was only hoping in vain the twirling sensation would stop.

"I thought the alien spear he has in him would heal him… Why is he still this way?" Another feminine voice said at his left this time.

"I don't know; maybe brain cells are harder to heal." A man answered also at the left.

"Will it completely heal then?" The second feminine voice asked with concern.

Who were they, and who were they talking about? Cameron oddly wanted to reassure them whoever they were, but he couldn't understand much of what was going on.

"Again I couldn't tell… but we should hurry up out of here; he sure have to be taken to the SGC infirmary the faster we can." The man voice answered with something Cam found gloomy in his tone.

The colonel slowly opened his eyes to make sure light would not blind him, curious to know what was going on, who were those people around him and why weren't they doing anything to stop the overwhelming headache he had. He lifted his head at the same time, feeling like it was made of really heavy rock. He wasn't seeing much more than shapes of different colors, some moving, some not, but all of them were dizzying. He carelessly glanced around without recognising anything, but it wasn't his main concern: gosh, his head ached! What else to think than how much it hurt?... Cam suddenly felt as he had water in his ears; the sounds became hushed and something flowed inside it. They quickly freed his arms and few minutes after he could lift and clasp one hand to one ear; wondering when he would be able to hear something better than hazy noises as he was very slowly and painfully sitting up. What a headache, and why wasn't he able to stop shaking?

"Cameron!" The first feminine voice exclaimed when she first saw the man motioning.

"Whatchya want?" He managed to mutter dully and sluggishly as he squinted to focus on the hand before him that he had clasped on his ear; there was a spot of light red on his fingers and he couldn't understand it. And he was still confused about the fact his limb was that much trembling; it was sickening and dizzying to watch. He didn't catch the sight of the SG1 concerned look when they glared at each other.

"Ok, Mitchell, listen to me; you knocked your head really bad and we all know you might be confused, but we want you to stay quiet and to pay attention to what we are going to say…... Cam?" The feminine voice kept on; calling Mitchell when she realised he wasn't listening to her but was touching the back of his head then bringing his bloody hands before him with a wondering look on his face. She stretched one arm and delicately grabbed one of the man's wrists to allay him and drag his attention on her instead of on his injury.

"Leyland?" Cam said lethargically like he was recognizing someone when his gaze went on Jackson at his left instead of on Carter. "We have to keep moving and get the others… saddle up boy; we can't afford wasting more time in here. " Cameron added now shifting to his knees and trying to stand up, breaking free from Carter caring hold. He definitively had a bad concussion and he was hardly making any sense; as puzzled up as he was… At least there was still somewhere in his fuzzy mind the hurry to get out of the ship with the team.

"Leyland?! Where's that name coming from?" Daniel said with incomprehension; yet he was already standing up from his crouched position, ready to react if his leader would stumble or anything.

"Mitchell, we are already here with you, just take a look!" Vala said with a slightly pleading tone; to see the man in this state was a little bit worrying. She was standing up as well.

"Don't ask him too much right now please; that will only disorient him even more…" Carter told them softly, before addressing herself back to the other lt. colonel: "Everybody is safe for now, but you are right on one point: we have to leave the ship before the rebels find us. I don't know if you can remember but we will have to ride the snow-bikes so I need to know if think you can move and stay still on a seat."

Mitchell stopped trying to push himself up on his feet, turning his head toward her and frowning with surprise, just as he was realising the woman was at his side. Yet Carter had the bad feeling he wasn't recognizing her entirely and she could clearly see how feverish and shivering he was; that was the sign of brain dammages. Cam then rubbed his eyes and winced at the pain of the headache before blinking back at her. The burning sensation was getting more and more worst so much he had to fight it hard and to clench his fist and bite his lips to not claw at his temples like a mad man.

"M'okay, fine… lets do so" He said with a docile and really worn out tone; before letting out with a sigh- just like he was realizing how feverous he was-: "Damn Leyland's right I'm out of my mind: I think I saw a woman with _yellow_ hair! We have to move to those bikes and get down really quickly…"

Just as Carter rolled her eyes and sighed with frustration, Mitchell finally pushed himself up to his feet. However, once he was up, the colonel felt as if he just received another flaming hit to the head all along with the worst nausea he remember having ever experienced. With eyes wide opened, he collapsed on his knees and hands so quickly the team had not enough time to hold him up, and he regurgitate a little bit of blood; that was the only thing he had in his stomach since more than 12 hours and vomiting is often seen when the victim has a severe concussion simply because the sense of motion and gravity can be really disturbed. The man's already foggy sight turned totally black as he shook even more and fell to his side; utterly panicked and suffering. There was the awful pressure on his brain; plus the feeling a burning blade was chopping his brain in cubes, that cats were clawing his brain and that lava was at the same time shot in every of his nerves. Then his eyes rolled upward once again and conscientiousness left him as his body convulsed slightly before becoming totally inanimate.

**To be continued**


	15. Chapter 15

Cam woke up with the familiar double pain: the effect of the brutal beating on the back of his head and the effect of the healing. But why was it taking so long to get rid of those? Cameron still felt as if somebody had poured thick mud in his mind and thinking was even painful, but he came to the conclusion it had something to do with the complexity of the brain structure: all the nerves and cells… aren't they supposed to not be able to divide and to regenerate? Mitchell could only hope that the alien spike could do miracles…

Then he realised he wasn't on the straight floor anymore; he was in something with the edge curved slightly and the bottom of if wasn't really comfortable. The man slowly opened his eyelids on a blinding white light and on a blurred sight, glancing around for anything he would recognize. At least he was less confused than the last time he woke up… or was it just a dream? Cam couldn't tell and preferred to focus on what seemed to be happening. He realised he was in the kind of container – the size of a very long and large bath- there was on the side of every snow-bike the former Mayka's crew owned, with a pile of their uniform vests as a homemade pillow. He lifted a little his upper body, leaning on one elbow as he slid the other hand behind his skull; it was still bloody yet half dried and sore but at least his muscles shook less than the moment before.

"Colonel Mitchell, are you well?" A deep voice said just beside yet above him.

"Big Fella?" Cam asked as he lifted slowly is head to see Teal'c: he was sitting on the snow-bike seat, at a higher height than he was. The Jaffa was slightly smiling at him. "Yeah uh… 'guess so uh…" Mitchell said a little bit confuse; before he shook his dizzy head, pulled himself together and added with more conviction: "I'm fine, T, I'm really fine now…"

"You should lie down and rest." Simply advised Teal'c. He knew his leader was in denial; this man could be so stubborn and his concussion wasn't helping much neither… So he had to be careful to make sure Cam would not harm anyone or himself because of a bad decision.

Mitchell wasn't listening much: he just saw the other snow-bike where Carter, Vala and Jackson were discussing. Cam observed them with curiosity, slowly remembering their escape plan and the fact they were part of the SG1 team as well. He also realised it was getting colder and he understood why: the lift was slowly going down and wind was surging by the opening it was creating all around the rounded shape of the platform. And the white light was the reflection of the sun on the snowy field outside.

"Colonel Mitchell, do you have difficulties to concentrate?" The Jaffa asked him seriously.

"What? I… No! Ev'rything's alright… uh…" Cam began, clearly lying and unable to remember the tall man's name suddenly.

"Teal'c." He ended.

"Yeah yeah… I … I was going to say it…" Cam muttered and lied, already shifting his attention on another matter. "Hey! Where's my gun?!" He then asked, looking in the container and all around; frowning.

"Colonel Carter took it from you; it would be inessential to you due your recent injury." Teal'c explained, looking like a grown up lecturing a begging difficult child.

Yet Cameron was already sitting up and shakily rolling to knees and hands in an attempt to stand up in the container. Though with dizziness and troubles with his balance plus the motion of the lift and the not that flat bottom of the coffer, he wasn't doing so good and nearly tripped many times. The metal resonance he made dragged the attention of those who were at the second snow-bike and they all turned at his direction, wondering. They could see him now climbing on the motorcycle-like seat right in front of Teal'c and innocently sitting… though he seemed to be rocking slightly once on the seat. The big Jaffa seemed ready to catch him if he lost balance once more and Cam wasn't even noticing that; he looked to be concentrating on the control panel of the vehicle.

"Right after he wakes, he's already set to drive! But I don't think he will go that far…" Commented Daniel so only Vala and Carter could hear, kind of amused by this sight.

"Trust me; I won't let him drive at all if he stays this way." Carter said with a sigh of exasperation.

"And I, can I drive?" Vala asked with a cheery smile, full of hope and less concerned now that she saw Mitchell feeling better.

"You will have to discuss it with Daniel." Carter answered with a slight smile, doing so even more teasingly when she caught the look on Jackson's face.

However, at this right moment they jolted at the loud noise of the starting of an engine. They immediately turned toward the giant ski-doo where were Teal'c and Mitchell to find the colonel both hand on the handles and fighting the Jaffa to keep holding those. Teal'c finally clamped the man's hands down to keep Cam from doing he-didn't-know-which-stupid thing with the vehicle, just as Carter reached them.

"Cam! What are you doing: we're not even halfway to the ground! You can't just slide with it on a steel floor; that thing has skis, not wheels! Don't touch the commands, please!" Sam told him with concern, surprise and reprimand at the same time.

"But Sam we have to check if those are really workin': the lady with the weird name could have leaded us to a trap with broken bike!" Mitchell protested.

This was making sense, but the fact he was still fighting Teal'c to free his arms and that he was by moment stopping suddenly to blink and look around with surprise told her he wasn't quite healed from this concussion. Vala and Daniel joined up with a guiltily amused look on their face; that looked funny, but at the same time it was a little bit sad that their leader had been knocked out hard enough to be this way.

"Cam…" Carter said, setting her fist on her hips.

She rolled her eyes with exasperation when Mitchell gave her a puzzled look. Assuming he shivered down, Teal'c loosened his grip but Cameron immediately took advantage of it to take back the driver seat, not touching anything, but still holding firmly…

"I knew that would happen…" Sam sighed as Vala and Daniel watched the scene with amused smiles.

"And there is no way to speed up the lift so we will have to wait…" Jackson added innocently to tease her.

This time the Jaffa simply and slightly poked Mitchell in the back, yet right on the spike. The thing slid lightly in the man's chest and he immediately flinched and clasped his hands on the other end just beside his heart, letting out a surprised and hurt groan. Mal Doran went on the side of the vehicle:

"Come off that thing, Mitchell. If there is someone more likely to handle one of those between us, well it's me!" She teased him, gently pulling on his winter coat to drag him toward her.

Yet he lost balance –being pulled down suddenly should have also jolted him a little – and if it wasn't of Vala to lean on her shoulder, he would have crashed soundly to the floor of the platform. She helped him to sit on the track of the snow-bike then backed off slightly to watch him: he was rubbing the part of his chest where the barb was, and then he moved to massage his temples while wincing.

"I'll reconsider the option of _not_ driving one of those. Yet I doubt I'll just give up like this… Can anybody turn off that fire and that hammering in my brain?" Mitchell muttered grumpily.

"Sorry, Mitchell, we can't help but wait for this…" Jackson answered, still slightly amused.

"All right then, Leyland, 'guess I'll just stick to it..." Cam sighed.

Seeing the surprised and offended look on Daniel's face, Vala and Carter broke into laughter and even Teal'c smiled broadly.

* * *

Minutes passed and the lift finally reached the snowy ground. Hopefully the ship haven't moved at all –meaning the rebels didn't repair it yet… or maybe that the Cadelan ruined it once for all, leaving it to float here until it would run out of gas- the snowstorm was even diminishing and it was less cold than few days ago when they came out of the stargate. SG1 pushed the two heavy vehicles down the platform to the snow and then climbed on those to take a seat: Jackson was driving one with Mal Doran sitting behind him and Carter was driving the other with Cam behind and Teal'c behind Cam in case Mitchell wasn't feeling good enough to stay still… or in case he was too hectic. That decision didn't pleased the man at all; he complained, he even fought so the Jaffa had to circle him with his muscular and long arms and hold Cam until he would feel too dizzy and short of breath and would calm down. Even if he was the leader, the others knew he wasn't able to command them for now so Carter automatically substituted him. Maybe the man was getting slightly better, maybe he kept saying he was fine, but that wasn't enough and it didn't worth the risk to let him try to drive the snow-bike or to take the lead.

Finally they understood quickly how to use those vehicle and leaved the place, going the direction Daniel and Teal'c found when they went for Sam or Vala but found nothing else than a computer that registered how looked the run of the ship. They had already experienced the ride on this kind of things, but the ones that Mayka had hidden were luckily way faster at first.

However, and that surprised them all quite a lot, when they were still not so far from the ship, Mitchell suddenly grabbed the gun Carter kept attached on her side, turned backward, bent down a little on the side to dodge Teal'c and began to fire fiercely. The shock made Jackson nearly loose control of his vehicle. The Jaffa reacted and tried to circle Cam once again, but he couldn't without risking falling both of them off the bike because of the dangerous position Cam took. They fought at Mitchell's grunts, winces and protests but the man broke free from the hold just enough seconds to keep on shooting behind them. Carter immediately exclaimed when she realised the man was still able to harm them:

"Mitchell what are you doing…?! Teal'c, he is going crazy, take the…"

But she didn't have enough time to ask the Jaffa to disarm Cam that they could all hear a loud explosion behind them. They looked back the best they could -as Teal'c was taking hold of Cam's forearms, so he couldn't use the weapon, while poking the spike once again- and discovered what it was all about: another snow-bike just explode because of the colonel's shot, but many others were following and catching back on them. They were rebels! And if Cam hasn't seen them coming, they would have been killed before knowing what was happening…

"We've been followed! They must have seen us on their radars… We have to get rid of them before reaching the Stargate!" Daniel exclaimed loud enough so Carter Teal'c and Mitchell could hear over all the deafening engine noises.

Samantha gave a sheepish look at Cam, feeling guilty for not believing him few seconds ago, but the man was only blinking and wheezing at the pain the Jaffa, the healing and his concussion caused him, not noticing much anyway. They heard other gun shots as Vala opened fire on the rebels behind them and those in the other snow-bike knew it was what they had to do as well. There were about a dozen of those enemy vehicles: maybe it was all they had; twelve vehicles just like when they came for them and dragged Cam out of the trap.

"I apologize for believing you were insane, Colonel Mitchell." Teal'c told him while grabbing his own stolen weapon and aiming the rebels. He shot the driver, but the rebel dodged it by bending down on his seat.

"Uh?! Oh yeah um… it's okay I guess." Cam said feverously, frowning as if he didn't remember much of the previous scene. "You had to be that harsh when it comes to restrain me, Big fella?" He then asked, though without any rancour.

It's because he was near losing consciousness and he would have lost balance and fell off if the Jaffa didn't stretch his arm to hold Cam sit on the seat; looking as if it was plainly ordinary to do so and keeping on shooting at their enemies. They were at about 15 or 20 meters (about 16 to 21 yards) behind them and they kept approaching… Royer said her hidden bikes were better, but only for the first minutes as if it was made for sprinting after all…

"We will soon be able to see the gate if the plan Daniel and you read was right." Warned Carter, trying to concentrate to avoid the bumps and the rocks that were in the way and could be some deadly obstacles to the vehicle and the passengers.

The Jaffa finally killed one rebel and his uncontrolled bike went crashing on the side, yet the other rebels didn't seem to take care of that: they were taking something out of their painted in red winter coats. Teal'c badly wounded one up that then fell off his vehicle, but the remaining ones drew some kind of guns and shot at SG1. They realised it was again those damned dart guns meaning the rebels planned as well to get SG1 alive to sell them to the government like their former Captain planned… at least it meant the bullets would not kill them on place… Maybe the enemies were undisciplined as it was hard to believe, but they were skilful in that kind of race in the snow and that wasn't god news.

"Vala! Damn it!" They could hear Daniel voice exclaiming.

When they looked at the other snow-bike, they saw Jackson driving with one hand and grabbing Vala by the shoulder with the other as she was getting kind of sleepy, to keep her from falling. They had her with one of their dart. Luckily, Daniel was able to let her slip in one of the containers on his vehicle and let her lie in there; like they did with Cam before. And the darts were still flying all around in a threatening way with distinct sounds when it rebounded on their vehicles.

"Teal'c, let me shoot as well: I hate standing there and being useless… and if I don't assist you we'll never be able to escape them!"

Mitchell suddenly begged the Jaffa with a slightly weak voice he was trying to make it sound more sure: he was still firmly held with the arm the Jaffa wasn't using to hold the gun, unable to turn back as well and to clearly see what was going on behind them. In addition, the pressure his friend was keeping on him to help him standing steadily on the seat was pushing in a wrong way on the spike through his chest: the alien thing was ripping slightly his flesh and his lung. Cam could feel the blood pouring in his lung and on his skin as well, as if his breathing wasn't already difficult enough without internal bleeding! Of course there was the healing, but this thing was as well painful –even more- and the pressure would not stop so it would keep on. Yet Mitchell knew it wasn't the Jaffa's fault: he couldn't know and Cam's foggy mind didn't want to make the kind big man feel guilty. Or maybe he was just too dizzy to think about it.

The tall man glanced at the colonel for a seconds: Cameron looked even more worn out as if he was barely able to hold his headache and the other effects of the concussion –such as the overwhelming nauseas that were worsened by the race on snow they were doing- and the Jaffa immediately doubted the man would bear the gun fight. His doubt were even greater when he realised how pale the man still was and how alarming were his raspy and faint coughing right now. He went back to shooting the rebels and killed one more before answering:

"I am sorry, Colonel Mitchell, I cannot allow this."

"Then let me get behind you!" Cam tried, still pleading and looking not well.

"What would be the use of such a position?" Teal'c asked, still shooting.

"I could be a nice shield: I'm not only Southern-tough; the alien piece of shit will keep me from gettin' slumbering…" Mitchell explained, desperately wanting to help his team-mates.

"No, Cam, that isn't a good idea at all: maybe you don't fall asleep, but you still react strongly to sedative." Carter told him with concern. She overheard their discussion and remembered how horrible it seemed to be when the Letelk healing got rid of the chemical the Doc gave him when he came to save her. She gasped when a dart rebounded on the handle just beside her left hand.

Mitchell didn't respond to protest this time and Teal'c didn't say anything; he only kept shooting at their enemies and damaged one of the rebel's snow-bikes that exploded then. Yet the Jaffa felt the human getting more sluggish in his grip so he held him tighter to make sure the colonel would not fall, driving it worst unwillingly. Squeezed, muted and choked with the pressure, the pain and in his own blood, Cam opened wide alarmed eyes and slightly gaped his mouth, trying frantically to break free with his last strength. But the big man could not know at all and only thought the lt. colonel was being delirious because of the blow he had to his head: it wasn't his fault; he only cared for Mitchell's life, ironically…

Just as Cam wasbegenning to fight faintly the mighty warrior, his breathing getting to weak hiccups, they heard the voice of Daniel calling them; alarmed yet somehow sleepy:

"Guys! One of their darts brushed by me, but I… I think a little bit of the sedative went in my blood by the scratch… I… I don't think I might… be able to stay awake for too long now!"

"What?! Oh Dear! We have to do something and fast!" Carter exclaimed, quite alarmed and looking at Daniel with concern.

If he fell asleep, their bike could lose control and crash or they'll just be caught once more but by the rebels this time… and something was telling her they would not be as generous as when Royer was leading them. Carter checked her team: she was busy driving, Daniel was not fine, Vala was already asleep, Teal'c was busy shooting and now Cam seemed to be in some kind of distress and near to be fainting… They were not good at all!

**To be continued!**


	16. Chapter 16

Things are always getting complicated, just as the whole universe was against SG1… So Daniel and Vala were in a bad position and Sam, Teal'c and Cam couldn't help. This one was even near dying and no one would notice!

"They will need a new pilot." Stated the Jaffa as he was still shooting: he was the only one that kept on doing so after all. It looked like he had something in mind.

"For sure, but what can we do now: if we stop to help them, the rebels will easily catch us!" Carter said as she was quickly glancing behind her as she could try to guess what the big man was plotting.

"I believe we must not stop." Teal'c said as he straightened Cam's body: the colonel was slowly slipping now that he was nearly not fighting anymore but simply hiccupping in an odd and alarming way.

"What?! So you want to…" Carter began, interrupting herself as she saw the Jaffa nodding seriously to her. "Teal'c, that is very dangerous, are you sure you want to do that?" She then asked with concern, looking at him right in the eyes and wishing there was another way.

"I am sure, Colonel Carter." He said as a dart passed just beside his right ear. "Colonel Mitchell, you will have to ready yourself." He then told Cam as he was shooting down one more rebel.

"T… Teal'c… I… I… can't… b…brea…th'…" Cameron huskily, brokenly and faintly wheezed with panic. His whole torso would convulse weakly as he would fight to get air in his sore lungs if it wasn't of the iron hold of the Jaffa. Even the blood flowing in his airway and then in his mouth seemed to keep any air to get in his throat. Cam's sight was blurred and getting darker with the lack of oxygen, the concussion, the awful pain that came with all this and the pressure on his ribs and on the spike along with the hellish burn of the healing. There wasn't any strength left to fight his friend that wasn't aware of his distress and his bleeding.

"Cam?..." Carter wondered while frowning: she thought she heard Cameron's very faint and alarmed whisper. Yet it was hard to tell with the deafening noise of the gunshots and the engine roaring… and because something else caught her attention right after.

"Sam, Teal'c! Hurry up!" Shouted Daniel's voice as he was slowly loosing consciousness and had difficulties keeping his eyes open and driving at the same time. The vehicle wasn't going in a straight line at all…

"All right: we're coming. Just hold on a little bit more" Carter exclaimed back, knowing she couldn't hesitate anymore.

She and Teal'c glanced at each other to find they were both ready. Carter then faced back the handle before her and began to turn on the side to approach the other snow-bike carefully. At the same time, Teal'c slightly lifted Cameron –and the man winced and grunted at the even greater pressure on his torso as he was moved this way- to let him slide in the container he slept in before. Once sure Mitchell leaned on the bottom of the bath-shaped coffer, he reached for the belt Cam stole to the guards and unfasten it. As Cameron was finally able to breathe air in his utterly burning oxygen starved lungs and tried to sat up, wanting to cough out the blood coming from the hole in his chest and flooding his airway; the Jaffa wasn't over with him yet. Teal'c gently shovelled him back to a lying position and used the belt he took to secure the injured sluggish man in the container, restraining him at the chest level and attaching him to the bottom of the thing. As Mitchell was feeling the painful and suffocating pressure back at the same spot and tried once more to fight the restrain with anguish, Teal'c stood and explained:

"I apologize but I cannot let you free if you are unsupervised: I will not be there for you this time if you lose balance. You are not well enough to fight. "

"Gosh…Teal'c! I… I won't…do anything… stupid! Unt… untie me, boy… please!" Cam begged faintly as panic was overtaking him: what was going on, why would the Jaffa be unable to "supervise him"? And he won't just let him in there suffocating as hell isn't it?

But the Jaffa had already climbed back on the seat and got down the other side in the other container… Because it was the plan: Carter had now driven their vehicle right beside the other one Daniel was trying to drive the best he could, keeping the right speed to stay at the same level. Teal'c stood carefully in the other container with the gun in his hands and waited until the two snow-mobiles were close enough… He had to keep balance and his warrior training helped him luckily…then the right moment came and he jumped to the other vehicle!

At the moment he landed in the container of the other vehicle, still under the enemy fire, Daniel closed his eyes to the sedative and would had fallen off the thing if the Jaffa didn't catch him by the shoulder and let him slide in the same coffer where Vala was already. Swiftly, the tall man took the commands of the vehicle and drove it by himself, accelerating slightly now that he handled the thing. Carter accelerated as well and smiled inwardly at Teal'c's courage; she was quite impressed by the daredevil stunt he just made. However Jackson and Mal Doran were saved, but they still had to take care of the rebels before the team took too much darts to keep up.

Though Mitchell wasn't out of trouble yet: again his sight was fading as he was still starving for air. Faint but wet coughs would only bring the blood to his mouth and a slight trickle of this thick liquid dropping from the side of his mouth, contrasting on his skin as pale as Death. To fight the restrain was faint: he couldn't break the belt or slide under it and he wasn't able to reach the buckle to unfasten it. And of course he couldn't take off the alien barb so the link will not make him bleed and squeeze his lungs as much… Plus Sam would not hear him because of the noise and the lack of breathe he had… would she believe him anyway: maybe she would think he was delirious and uselessly panicked if he told her he was choking.

Before his mind would go too foggy and consciousness would leave him, something struck him: the gun he took from Carter! It felt with him in the container… Cam tried to stretch his neck to see where it was now and spotted it just beside his left knee, on the bottom of the coffer. He stretched the more he could his arm –that wasn't held by the link- and even bent the best he could his upper body, pressing even more on the spike that tore his muscles, skin and lungs…He wasn't fighting the belt, he was fighting the incredible suffering of pushing this way and of healing at the same time, and the impossibility to breath in plus the dizziness, the headache and the nausea. Cam could touch it, touch the handle of the gun and try to help himself by moving his knee to drag the weapon closer. As he could finally grab the gun with his fingers, he felt a sudden snap just beside the Letelk spike and could swear he just have been impaled once again in the chest: the pressure wrongly set on the spike made a lever effect right on the two ribs beside it… one just broke. Mitchell nearly dropped the so desired weapon and groaned with surprise and the utter pain, clasping his other arm around his chest, but changing his mind with panic when he realised his torso was already tightly held. Shutting his eyes tight in a wince, he held the best he could the pain grunts and quickly pulled the gun to him before it would be too late and he would faint. He had to stay awake and to stop shivering that violently: SG1 needed him!

Cam's shaky hand dragged the gun to the side of the belt, making sure he wouldn't fire at himself as well and shot the restrain to finally break it. The lt. colonel immediately gasped for air and sat up yet regretted it slightly when he suddenly began to cough hard and to spit a little bit of blood once again… doing so was shooting pain signals in his entire chest and brain and even more to his broken rib. That stabbing pain was overwheling. Too nauseous and suffering to stand this way, Cam curled slightly in a ball on his side and could only wait and hold his torso with both his arms as he knew the worst pain was yet to come. He bit his tongue to not scream and bother Carter when she needed a lot of concentration: the burning already going in his brain began this time in his ribcage. To pour sulphuric acid in the gash filled with the Letelk spike would have been restful compared to the hell he experienced on the moment… He was shaken with spasms and twisted himself because of the suffering... Yet it was too much for him. For a several seconds, the man completely blacked out.

* * *

Mitchell couldn't tell if it was his own coughing due to the blood still in his airway even if the wound was closed that woke him up… or if it was the voice of Carter when she suddenly announced with enthusiasm:

"The Gate, over there! We will be there in about ten minutes, hold on Teal'c!"

Cam's eyes shot open and he could forget his sore body to smile at the idea of finally getting the hell out of this planet and get on their very own planet. He sat up to look around but realised his head wasn't quite healed yet as the hammering and the dizziness came suddenly back. At least he was a little bit less confused. But the relieve at the thought of escaping once for all soon ended up when the man remembered that they were followed and under fire: some darts ended up just beside him and he had to duck to dodge those.

"Why can't those guys just screw off sometimes?..." Cam muttered to himself, rolling back on his shaky feet to crouch in the container and look behind them.

Grabbing back the so needed gun, he began to shoot at the rebels, ignoring the vertigos and the fact he was missing the enemy drivers because of his wooziness.

"Damn, Mitchell, you could at least warn me!" Began Carter with a startled tone when she jolted at the sudden gun shots behind her; as she had to concentrate on driving at this frightening speed. "But… what are you doing up?! I thought Teal'c made sure you would not try anything!" She exclaimed with surprise, trying to look at him over her shoulder. Why would that man be so stubborn? And how did he break free from whatever Teal'c did to secure him?

"Teal'c didn't know what he was doing… Now I'm helpin' a bit at last and you won't stop me this time, Sam…" Cam slightly teased her, yet she could guess only by his tone that the man was getting more than quite exhausted by this mission and only wished it to end soon.

Mitchell got back to his job of shooting back at the rebels, trying to focus and to aim well. He used to be skilful, but that was quite harder since the concussion caused him troubles concentrating. But at least Cam took them off even if it was slowly and that he had to duck very often to dodge the darts now all at him. When he realised shooting the vehicles was easier than trying to shoot the driver, he cursed himself for being that light-headed and became even more effective, causing loud crashes and explosions behind SG1. And the gate was getting closer and closer…

"We will reach the Ring in about 5 minutes! Teal'c, Cam, I know we can make it!" Carter encouraged them, clearly smiling at the sight of the dark spot getting bigger and more shaped like a stargate as they approached.

"Great! That's what I'm talking about!" Cam let out, smiling as well and full of hope. But he jolted and he swore when a dart broke one of the snow-bike lights just beside him; nearly wounding him up because of the glass shatters that flew around, and he faced back the following enemies to keep on shooting at them. There were now only four of those rebels.

"If Colonel Mitchell cannot eliminate them before we reach the Stargate, I suggest we circle around it until it is done." Teal'c recommended as he was driving the vehicle closer.

"I think this time there won't be any trouble getting rid of those last ones…" the Colonel answered with a malicious and confident smirk.

Yet he was wrong on this: the rebels stopped shooting at SG1 and quickly reached for something in their painted in red winter coat. When he realise that they stopped throwing darts at him, Cam carefully stood a little to check what the enemies were doing, if they were running away at last or if they decided to give up or anything. However, when he realised they were drawing something else out, it was a little bit too late: they opened back the fire on SG1, this time with real weapons, deadly ones. The rebels had enough of being killed without being able to do anything with only some pathetic sedatives and decided they would fight for real and get revenge. They didn't care anymore about the reward after selling SG1...

Bullets landed fiercely just beside Cam and he had to jump flat to the bottom of the container to dodge them. Some went also crashing on the side of their vehicle and the snow-bike began to shake as a dark smoke was getting out of the side of the thing. Teal'c accelerated and went before Carter's snow-mobile, knowing that their only hope was now the only shooter with them: Cameron…

"We've been hit! We have to stop them from breaking the vehicle even more if we want to make it to the gate!" Sam exclaimed with concern, trying to zigzag as the Jaffa was doing so they would be harder to aim.

"I'm workin' on that!" Mitchell commented as he could only stick his gun out and fire blindly behind them. If he stood, he would be instantly shot by the angry rebels: they were still doing so at the container and the back of their ski-doo, not letting him enough time to do anything. The colonel was kind of irritated that everything was always going wrong on that planet after all…

"We're getting closer to the Stargate: Teal'c, you will lead the circling around it but we will have to be very careful: our vehicles will be easier to target…" Carter said to the team when she saw the gate at about 25 meters (27 yards) from them, making sure the Jaffa would hear her as well even from the other bike.

"I'll cover us." Informed Mitchell with a determined tone, readying the weapon for a cover fire. He had to ignore the hammering in his brain and the sickening feeling everything was twirling around him, he had to do so for the sake of the team.

"Now!" They could hear Teal'c's voice shouting as he suddenly turned his vehicle at a 100 degree turn at the right.

Immediately, Carter followed and turned as well; and Cameron stood up slightly in the container, shooting fiercely at the now exposed side of the rebel bikes because those once kept on in a straight line at first. One on four began to let out a dark smoke then lose control and fell on the side in great speed crash, but the others would still follow SG1 and fire at them. Mitchell had to duck back since he was again their main target and bullets passed just beside him, so close some scratched his stolen coat. Of course he could heal fast, but it would first hurt as hell as he already experienced twice that day and while he would be trying to hold the pain, he wouldn't be able to protect his friends.

But just as they were at the half of their circle, now behind the gate and keeping on their turn, the rebels seemed to understand something else: Cam was horrified to realise the enemy shots were now landing way closer to Carter… so close it was getting very dangerous for her! Knowing he had to react and thinking it was his fault, Cameron jumped to his feet and shakily climbed back on the snow-bike seat. He felt so worn out and weak, but he managed to sit just behind Samantha, clutching tightly the seat with his thighs to hold on, grabbing the side of that seat with his free hand and his back slightly leaning on hers so he could hide her and face the enemy bikes. He would not let her take any shot, whatever happens to him!

"What are you doing?! Not your shielding idea I hope: that would be very reckless!" Carter exclaimed with concern and reprimand when she suddenly felt the touch of his manly back on hers and turned to find out what was going on.

"Hey relax, Sam: I have to do it if you don't want to look like a strainer when those bastards will decide to take care of you… Plus we are already playing at Big Fella's ride shield by staying behind him like this…" Cam said and pointed out with a little bit of humour: he had to reassure her because he knew she wasn't eager to let him endangered himself this way. He was clearly in their aiming and their shots would soon reach him.

Just as Cam said those words, he shot down another enemy snow-mobile, but the three remaining ones attacked as well. And two bullets of their quick fires hit the poor colonel… One lightly in the side just over the right hips –the man gasped, winced, groaned, bent slightly on the side and clasped his left hand on his light wound- and one other deeper in his left shoulder, right under the collarbone. The second one shocked him even more as the utter pain signal was shot through his shoulder, but his chest and arm as well as it paralysed right on place. This time he couldn't hold a short cry and clasped his hand holding the gun on the already really bleeding gap; his sight quickly filled with cobwebs. The injury was an important one.

Carter felt the body of the man backing on her at the impact and even saw with wide opened eyes a bullet flying really close to her shoulder. Then she realised this thing just passed through Cam! Truly worried, she looked away from her road to glance at Mitchell, calling his name and grabbing the best she could his uninjured upper arm to hold the nearly fainting man. The man was getting even more sluggish and slightly leaned the back of his head on her shoulder. She could feel him shaking and hear him panting and hissing with the pain, but Carter also realised the rebels had stopped shooting at them. Maybe they thought it was over with the SG1 shooter…

"Cameron! You have to stay with me and not let yourself fall unconscious!" She exclaimed with concern, trying to see his face but she couldn't because of their position and the road she had to keep an eye on. "We cannot keep on like this and get you killed: I am going to stop right on place! I'm sure we can discuss a little with them if it is what it takes…" She then added with anger in her tone: she was sick to see that so handsome man get injured in any possible way.

"No!... No I'll… be fine! Don't… don't stop and keep going: I have a plan…" The man managed to grunt, but it was clear he would not hold on too long even if he seemed quite determined. He was still panting and weakly leaning or her back.

"What is it then?" She asked hastily, still very worried and desperate.

"Let's switch seat… gimme the… commands of that thing." He answered seriously with his winded and suffering voice, stunning her actually…

**To be continued!**


	17. Chapter 17

They were still doing that large turn around the Stargate because they couldn't stop to get in with enemies after them, but if they kept a straight line, they would only go farther pass the so needed gate. However, what was different from few seconds ago was that Carter was stunned by what she has been asked…

"What?! You want me to let you drive?! At this speed?! With your injuries?! Hell, Cam, no!!!" She flatly refused and shook the head in disapproval.

She felt the man turning in her back as he tried to face her. In fact, Cam tried to forget the best he could the sickening dizziness and most of all: the very bloody hole he had in the shoulder that was paralysing his entire arm. He frowned as he was looking for her to turn toward him so he could look at her in the eyes. The woman, afraid that he would fall off turned indeed to unexpectedly gaze in his baby blues. He looked willing to try anything for them; he looked sure even if he was hanging on maybe only because of adrenaline now.

"Sam, trust me. My head's better and the other scratches are getting to it…"Cam told her seriously and with a near pleading tone.

He closed his eyes, took a deep painful breath and held it a few seconds to hold a wince: the damned healing was going to his side and shoulder as lava pouring into his muscles and his pierced shoulder blade. At the same time, he slightly turned his uncontrollably shivering back on Carter: Cam didn't want her to see him suffering this way; it was embarrassing for him and he didn't like to drive her anxious… they all had more important thing to take care than his own suffering he was thinking. She stayed silent as he did this.

"I know there's no time for kiddin', I know what I'm doing. Just a li'll trick on them… Please Sam." He kept on, fighting the darkness that was surrounding him all along with the gruelling healing. The monster was dead as he had been told by his friends, but the Letelk had left his mark and would keep on torturing Mitchell even terminated in an explosion…

"I said no, Mitchell. That will not end well: you can't even stay steady on the seat! How will it look like if I let you drive?" Samantha said more severe and frowning.

"How can I stay steady with nothing to hold to anyway…? I'll be careful; I'm a pilot after all…" The man tried, the more convincing he could sound in his condition.

She hesitated for few minutes as their circling was still going, back to watching their road and feeling the man's back leaning on hers again. Before their snow-bike, they could see Teal'c's one leading the lap and behind them the rebels were still following without shooting as if they were hoping that their prey would give up soon. Carter's mind was still on her passenger's case. He must be so disappointed to be set aside as he was unable to help at all, once again. Many times in that mission she should have trust him; he was telling the truth but nobody would believe him… and he always ended up being right. Part of her was screaming to her that listening to the man's request was one of the worst foolish things she could ever do, but at the same time she felt as if she couldn't decline at this very time. Maybe she was desperate, moved by the unconsciously pleading look of the man or simply mesmerize by this lt. colonel that was heroically facing danger at their side… He looked like a real hero whatever how weak he could seem, how could she forget about this; everytime she saw him it nearly stunned her. He was touching; he could melt the core of her heart when he looked that way… Carter's voice broke the silence where only the sound of the engines could be heard:

"Fine, but don't you dare killing both of us with reckless stunts!" She let out with a slight touch of humour to hide her worries, finally accepting.

"…Thanks a lot Sam." Cam said softly after a short astonished silence, smiling sincerely at her.

After another timid silence, Mitchell began to stand up carefully to get closer to the commands by the side of the snow-mobile. At least his injuries were finally healed… maybe he had still the headache, the vertigos and his muscles newly healed were still numb, but he was feeling better. Carter was also moving, still holding the handles but ready to swiftly let them go when Cameron will be ready to grab them. Then quickly before he would lose balance, Mitchell took her place as she sat behind him; taking hold of the snow-bike handles to rectify the direction before the vehicle would lose track and crash. When they were both well sat, Cam gave the gun to Sam, told her to not shoot until he teold her so and immediately straightened the bike to break free from the circling around the gate, just as he was heading for something she couldn't see. Carter feared that she did a mistake to let him command after all and she put her hands on his muscular shoulders to hold and not lose balance as the man was accelerating. She was even more anxious when she realised she could feel the man faintly shivering under her hands, but Samantha didn't say anything: it was too late to change her mind and to disillusion once more the colonel.

Yet he knew what he was doing. Cam looked over his shoulder: his friend was still firmly holding on, but the rebels were following them just as he hoped they would do. The enemies decided to get rid of the one that shoot them down the most first so they ignored the other bike driven by the Jaffa to instead hunt Cam's. So Teal'c was still circling around the gate and Mitchell was going for a straight line toward the Stargate, followed by the bad guys. They were still at about 20 meters (21 yards) of the gate, but they were fastly approaching.

"Don't loosen your grip…" Cameron simply warned Sam, not even explaining what he had in mind.

Before she could ask what it was about, Cam suddenly and abruptly pulled the brakes and bent the handle to the left in a controlled skidding. The back of their giant snow-mobile slide on the snow at a frightening speed and soon went at the same level than the front of it as the thing was still sliding and risked to fall on its side and crush the two humans on it. Carter let out a short scared and surprised gasp when the vehicle suddenly stopped and nearly throw her off; holding even harder on the man's shoulders. That brought their snow-mobile completely stopped perpendicularly at …the rebel snow-bikes… and the rebels were heading right on them, ready to bump violently in the SG1's vehicle! Horrified, she couldn't take her gaze away from the enemies rushing their way as the collision was definitively going to happen since Cam was not moving their vehicle at all. The engine was still roaring, but the driver was keeping the brake down so it wouldn't move yet.

"Mitchell! What are you doing?! Let go the brakes; they're going to smash right into us!!" Carter exclaimed.

"Not yet…" Cam said. His tone was so sure and cool that it made Sam shivered: was he going insane?! She could hear his alarming wheezing even better now that their engine was less noisy.

"But, Cam…!" She stammered, shocked.

"Trust me; not yet…" Mitchell interrupted with his so determinate tone.

The enemies were getting so close… But right when she closed tight her eyes and knew they would be crushed in a second or two, thinking it was their end and that Cam planned to kill the rebel with that suicidal kamikaze plan, the roaring of their engine became even louder and she nearly felt backward and off the vehicle: Mitchell released the brakes and the vehicle nearly took off as it accelerate to leave the spot. The rebel vehicles brushed pass so close that Carter felt an air whoosh, but Cam managed to dodge the enemies at the last split second by simply making the thing move a few meters. And just as Mitchell stopped their engine abruptly and nearly threw them both off the seat, she heard a very loud crash right behind her…

They both turned quickly their head to look behind and to find something Carter wasn't expecting: a dark smoke cloud was coming out of a large rectangular and deep hole in the snowy ground… That was the trap in the ground Cam felt in when they came out of the gate! It was hard to spot when you didn't know because of the immaculate white of the pit and the hard land. Mitchell lured the last enemies into it to get rid of them all at the same time; being the only one that knew he had stopped right before it and that by clearing the way at the last split second would make it impossible to stop or dodge it in time for the rebels!

"Cam! That was…" Carter began with shock.

"I know I know, that was stupid, I should have warned you about my plan…"Mitchell was already apologizing sheepishly, concerned about losing Sam's trust after this really risked stunt. He was timidly turning his face to look at hers.

"No, that was brilliant!" She said gladly, still amazed and stirred by the adrenalin rush she had with that spectacular move. She was making a broad smile to him, amused by his puzzled look and happy to realize they had now escaped for real.

"You really believe that?!" Cam asked, deeply surprised at her reaction.

She gently smiled to him as an answer and Cam soon did so as well: they did it, now they could head back to their Earth once for all and get away from this hellish place. Victoriously smiling, he started back the engine to head for the gate as they could see Teal'c driving back their way.

* * *

They parked the snow-mobiles near the DHD and those who were still awake, Teal'c Carter and Cameron –even if he wasn't completely steady and looked totally worn out-, were now standing just beside it while Daniel and Vala were still sleeping side by side in the container. Those last two were kind of cute to watch... Still it wasn't over yet; they had to make the thing work and they had to get back to SGC.

"Do you think we can power this up with the bike batteries?" Mitchell asked, slightly frowning at their new problem: last time the gate wasn't even lighting up.

"No, we won't need to… Mayka Royer told us how to bypass the malfunction that keeps the Stargate shut." Carter explained with a slight impish smile on her lips as she was motioning to behind the DHD.

"Indeed." Assured Teal'c, his hands behind his back and confidently looking at Sam.

"Wow that's nice… so what do we need to do then?" Mitchell asked, crossing his arms slowly.

He wasn't feeling like working or thinking hard anymore: all this was exhausting, whatever if the Letelk thing was doing miracles, it was sucking a lot of energy and was very stressing. Yet Carter didn't answer: she simply kicked the dialling device once or twice soundly at Mitchell's great surprise. They heard a kind of electrical sputtering and then the DHD simply lighted up, even if it wouldn't work at all the last time. So the captain was right after all.

"What, we only needed to tilt the pinball machine to get it workin'?!" Cam asked, horrified.

"Well… yes." Samantha answered nearly sheepishly as she was getting back at their side.

"You mean that if we had kicked that thing in first place, none of this would have happen?! We wouldn't have got caught and all?!" Mitchell kept on. The others could see how frustrated he now was: he went a little agitated, as he didn't know what to do to hold or express his anger. All _he_ went through because of that pointless malfunction; that was so stupidly irronical… But he showed great control and simply took a deep yet painful breath before saying: "Fine, I'll think about beatin' up the device next time, now we have to make it work." Though his jaw was clenched when he said those words.

"If we are lucky, the change the Letelk creature did to the wormhole to get through –or at least this hypothesis would explain a lot of thing and Royer seemed to think something this way… I will have to do researches on this matter later to prove it however- well that modification should be still in place as long as this kind of alternate tunnel haven't _collapsed_. I figured the Letelk started somewhere else in the universe, traveled in a straight line toward the way that was supposed to bring us to the planet we were heading, cut through ours to bring us with it further in space and maybe time, still continuing its linear move."

As explaining what she imagined possible -she had plenty time to think about it when she wasn't trying to escape her cell-, Carter drew two points in the snow with the tip of her boot at first representing SGC and the planet they were going to visit linked together with a line. Then she drew two other points representing where the monster first was and where they were right now, linked with a line as well. It had the shape of a "X". She then gestured to show how they traveled through the wormholes in an unusual way because of the creature: first straight on the first one, then along with the second and perpendicular one when they came at the meeting point, to stop at the last point finally.

"If I assumed right, we should be able to end up on the… _main way_ of the wormhole and get back where we come from… Or the worst that could happen is that we'll end up at the creature's starting point" Carter added, pointing at the X-shaped scheme to explain once again. She told all this without saying anything about Cam's frustration and she even tried to use terms and plans he would understand easily: he had a concussion after all and his blue eyes seemed more and more often going glassy and blinking. She could work harder to translate her usual scientific terms in more current ones this time if it could allay his frustrations.

"Okay… uh… the only way to find out is to try. I don't think we have any other option." Cam said, frowning as he was still pondering on her explanations: gosh, he was so tired and the land around him wouldn't stop twirling, that was hard to concentrate!

"And I believe the crew in red will send more of its troops when they will find out the first ones failed." Commented Teal'c to point out they still should hurry up.

"So we dial in for Earth…" Acknowledge Carter.

She did so and entered the right code, watch the chevrons locking on place to finally wait for the event horizon to show up. It worked perfectly.

"Too bad they took away our comms: we could have asked by radio first…" Cam stated. "Anyway: I'm just tired of all this: lets grab Vala and Jackson and we're going home." He then sighed.

Because they had nothing to add to this, Teal'c lifted and brought Daniel near the gate as Carter and the weakened leader brought Vala. Holding their breath, they walk through the event horizon.

* * *

"It's SG1, guns down and somebody call the medic team." General Landry commended, clearly relieved to see his best team passing through the event horizon of the Stargate, yet at the same time bothered by all this. He left the command room to meet them as the blaring sound of the off-world gate activation finally shut.

The team looked around with concern, making sure they were really in the SGC they knew and went quickly to the conclusion it was. That was one of the most cheering things that happened for more than three days. The troops guarding the place lowered their weapons as Teal'c walked down the ramp with a broad smile on his lips and a sleeping Jackson in his muscular arms, the two looking like the tall groom carrying the bride. Carter followed, smiling as well and holding Vala's upper body as Mitchell seemed to struggle to keep up even if he was only carrying her thin legs. The man was smirking, victorious, but was pale and clearly near to fall on his face or something like that. Landry came in the gate room at the same time as the medic team came in with stretchers and some equipment.

"SG1, where were you?! You have been reported missing for more than 72 hours and the team already on the designated spot never saw you coming out of the gate… Can anyone explain to me what happen?" He said severely, even if he worried a lot during those days and the search for any track of his best team.

As he was saying this, the medic team took hold of the oddly dressed Vala and of Daniel, setting them on stretchers and beginning their usual tasks, slightly relieved to find they were stable. Landry was glaring at the three remaining members of SG1: they had those winter coat and Carter had slightly red cheeks because of their long stay in cold temperatures. For the Jaffa it was hard to tell and for Mitchell he was so pale it was alarming. They looked reassured to be back at last, but slightly reticent as they were exchanging a sheepish glare: he asked for a lot. The medic team left with the stretchers.

"That will be a very long story…" Carter began, being the one that finally spoke for them.

"And I have plenty of time… Now to the debriefing." He answered firmly; too impatient to know what happened to think about sending the three for a medical check.

"Um, sorry, Sir, but I... I have to… report to your daughter Dr. Lam. And I don't think I'll be around before a while…" Mitchell said with all the military politeness he use to have, but his voice looked somewhat weak and slightly concerned.

He seemed even more beaten up and his eyes went glassy and he slightly rocked on his feet for a second or two, fighting to keep balance with his legs that felt like they were made of rubber. Landry immediately became a lot less severe and more surprised to realize that the colonel was only barely holding on; it was nearly impressive. Cam then walked shakily pass the general and his two team-mates, not even waiting for an answer or a formal way to leave in front of his superior; he was heading for the corridor and leaving the gate room as he was hurrying before he would simply fainting and collapsing on place. Still surprised, Landry turned on place to keep his eyes on Mitchell, wondering as he could see his unsteady walk.

"Maybe you should make sure somebody would walk back with him to the infirmary, Sir." Carter stated, slightly amused at the sight of the poor colonel -as he was passing the door- and the look on the general's face.

"That's the first time I see Colonel Mitchell willingly going there, by his own decision and admitting the fact he would stay off duty for a while!" Landry exclaimed, quite astonished. "That must be very serious; how can he still stay on his feet!"

"It is serious, indeed, but I believe it is not that urgent." Teal'c said, amused as well by the situation: to see their so stubborn leader docilely going in a hurry where he always hated being since his accident in Antarctica was not often seen. It was nearly cute.

"Do you think they'll be able to extract the Letelk thing?" Carter asked the Jaffa nearly playfully and ignoring the puzzled up General that was looking at them and wondering. The old man was too surprised and stayed speechless.

"It seemed that stone was easy to break with bullets of regular size. I believe the surgical operation will not be jeopardizing Colonel Mitchell." Teal'c answered, playing along as well, yet staying cool as usual.

"You're right. And they will have to remove the foreign body slowly enough to let him heal thoroughly or the bleeding will be out of control because of the size of the gap." Carter said.

On this, they could all hear a sound thump in the corridor that leaved the gate room: they turned toward the door, already knowing Mitchell didn't make it very far now that the adrenalin effect vanished and left him to his weariness and the effect of the still severe concussion. He without doubt collapsed on his way. Without even discussing about that, Teal'c and Carter knew they had to escort their friend through the levels of the SGC after all. Because the General was still speechless, Carter decided to inform him:

"Sorry to leave you as well, Sir, Teal'c and I are going to help Colonel Mitchell to at least reach the infirmary. We may as well check on the others. I assure you that every detail will be given in the reports soon enough, Sir."

On that, the Jaffa and she saluted him as they should and leaved the room to get to Mitchell; discussing and waging on what will happen to the others next, still glad to finally be free and back on Earth. Landry could only look at them as they were disappearing out of the room.

"I can't believe the son was really looking for medical care all by himself…!" The man whispered in disbelieve, still staring at the door…

**---------------------- THE END!!!!!! ----------------------------------**

**Author note: For those who think this end is a little sudden (more about the last part where they are finally back), I must say that I planned to end this like that.**

**Yet I know there is still some point that could be conclude in another way and with more details… to that, I say: If that inspire you, I suggest you, readers, to make a try at imagining the aftermath of this messed up mission and writing it down. If so, well I only ask you to hand me the link to it (so I'll add the link to your creation at the end of mine… and I'll read it of course) and to naturally mention the title and the author of the source of inspiration ("Down with the azure shards" By Machinegun0arg in case you forgot :P )**

**You want some hints? Well here it goes: Was it that easy to remove the Letelk spike from the lovely colonel's chest? Does it have a residual effect that could threaten him? Will the alternative tunnel in the wormhole stay open and bring some new troubles? What about the Letelk stone Daniel still have in his office? Will they hear again of this kind of monster?**

**Anyway: to all, sincere thanks for reading it through, for commenting, for being patient and understanding when it comes to my grammar. I really enjoyed writing this high-speed fiction (yeah you know: since more than a month I'm writing about a chapter of over 3000 words a day out of two or three… most people are doing a chapter every week but I couldn't wait that long… A chapter took about 7 hours so I have no life XD) and working with the SG1 characters. That was pleasant for a first time.**

**Machinegun0arg**


	18. Chapter 18

**Update update update!**

**I just decided to write a sequel after all… to those interested to read it, just look for my newest fiction: _Down With the Inner Shards _! More details and all at the top of the first chapter…**


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